


A Lightkeeper in The Dark

by filmnerd



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Post-Canon, Psychological Trauma, long fic, the alphas are back
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2019-08-19 15:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16536953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/filmnerd/pseuds/filmnerd
Summary: Aloy finds the Alphas to be hidden deep inside GAIA Prime sleeping in cryo-pods. Awakening them with the help of GAIA, the Alphas are introduced to the world they created.





	1. Chapter 1

**_FUNCTIONAL_ **

NAME: **DR. ELISABET SOBECK**

POSITION: **ALPHA PRIME**

NATIONALITY: **AMERICAN**

STATUS: **ALIVE**

“Elisabet, how are you feeling?”

Elisabet yawns, covering her mouth as she sits up from the cryo-pod, groaning as the stiff muscles in her body protest. God, she felt like she slept for forever. Gently, she moves her head around, groaning as her neck pops. She blinks her eyes open, slowly adjusting to her vision coming back to her.

“Hey, GAIA.” She greets her, smiling softly as she rubs her eyes. “Felt like I slept for eternity.” She jokes, before with slow movements pushes herself off of the cryo pod. “I’m feeling like I got some well-deserved sleep.” She stands and holds onto the pod until the numbness inside her legs left. Once she feels like she can stand, she moves to lean against the wall behind her. Closing her eyes, she takes a moment to relax and to take in the quiet.

She begins to remember how they came to sleep in the cryo-pods. After her team and Elisabet finished completing GAIA and the Zero Dawn project, they had thought, "Why _can’t_ they see the future?" They were equipped with cryo-pods, given to them from Far Zenith (a deal that Elisabet had to negotiate to have in their possessions: the cryo-pods and the ectogenetic chambers for Patrick) and they can sleep until GAIA gives them the heads up. They wanted to see if their plan worked or not. Wait it out. Wait until GAIA finds an acceptable time so that they could be awoken, then they can go outside and find food, clean breathable air, when the earth was filled with life again. Elisabet estimated at least a century or two that they’ve been asleep.

She opens her eyes, tilting her head up. “How are you, GAIA?” Elisabet takes the time to look at the room she is in and frowns slightly when she sees around four cryo-pods unlit candles and flowers scattered around them.

Elisabet leans away from the wall, straightening up, as her mind begins to work. Did one of her team woke up before her? How were they able to get flowers? Candles, she can understand, they were stored in one of the many storage rooms of GAIA Prime, in case somehow electricity went out somewhere in the facility and they needed candles, but  _flowers_? Unless, they were able to 3D print flowers, but it’s been so long. It’s strange.

Pulling away from her thoughts, she hears GAIA’s response. "I am well, Elisabet." God, she missed GAIA. Even if GAIA’s tone is fond, Elisabet can hear a hint of anxiety in her voice. “But before you ask any queries, may I suggest awakening the other Alphas as well?”

“Yeah, course.” Elisabet pushes herself off the wall before moving to Samina’s cryo pod, thankfully one of the cryo pods that aren’t surrounded by candles or flowers. She wipes a hand across the dust and smiles.

**_FUNCTIONAL_ **

NAME: **DR. SAMINA EBADJI**

POSITION: **ALPHA | APOLLO**

NATIONALITY: **BRITISH**

STATUS: **ALIVE**

Smiling, Elisabet activates the cryo-pod and steps back as the pod opens, chilling air greets her and Elisabet wraps her arms around herself. “Rise and shine, Sam.” She grins, and watches as the woman groans softly, opening her eyes slowly.

Samina looks around for a moment before finally looking at Elisabet, and then a small smile spreads on her face as she gently extends her hand to Elisabet. “Good morning, Elisabet.” Elisabet helps her sit up and waits until Samina can support herself. She doesn't actually know if it's morning or not, but it doesn't matter as long as they are alive. 

“How’re you feeling, Sam?” Elisabet asks her and the woman stretches out her stiff limbs as she sits up, and Elisabet winces as she hears the bones crack and a soft moan from Samina.

“Like I’ve slept forever.” Samina chuckles and Elisabet smiles at her, helping her down from the cryo-pod and checking that Samina can stand without help, she moves toward Margo, dusting off the pod as well.

**_FUNCTIONAL_ **

NAME: **MARGO SHÊN**

POSITION: **ALPHA | HEPHAESTUS**

NATIONALITY: **AMERICAN**

STATUS: **ALIVE**

Activating the pod, she steps back. “Up and at ‘em, Margo.” The young woman groans, eyes slowly opening before she mutters, “Five more minutes,” and then proceeds to turn around. Elisabet chuckles, shaking her head before going toward Charles, doing the same as before.

Finding a small crack at the top of the pod, she worries a little, a small coil of dread creeping up inside of her and settling. She dusts off the pod with a trembling hand but is only to be relieved at what she sees.

So far so good.

**_FUNCTIONAL_ **

NAME: **CHARLES RONSON**

POSITION: **ALPHA | ARTEMIS**

NATIONALITY: **SOUTH AFRICAN**

STATUS: **ALIVE**

“Good morning, Charlie.” Elisabet smiles easily as she activates the pod. Charles awakens with a jolt and gasps as his eyes snap open, his face one with surprise as he looks at Elisabet as if he couldn’t believe that he’s actually alive.

“We’re alive?” He asks her, frowning lightly as he sits up quickly but then regrets it instantly, groaning as his bones pop. Elisabet squeezes his forearm as he looks toward her then around them, his eyes taking in the room that they are in and his colleagues waking up from cryo-stasis before finally looking at her. His eyes are sad. “We are still in this shithole, I’m afraid.”

Elisabet nods. “Unfortunately.” She leaves him to awake Travis.

**_FUNCTIONAL_ **

NAME: **TRAVIS TATE**

POSITION: **ALPHA | HADES**

NATIONALITY: **AMERICAN**

STATUS: **ALIVE**

“Get your ass up, Tate.” Elisabet says, rolling her eyes, not wanting to wait to watch him wake up before reaching Captain Okilo. She’s glad that he’s awake, but sometimes the man gets under her skin.

**_FUNCTIONAL_ **

NAME: **CAPTAIN AYOMIDE OKILO**

POSITION: **ALPHA | MINERVA**

NATIONALITY: **NIGERIAN**

STATUS: **ALIVE**

“Wake up, Cap.” Elisabet says, and the woman takes a minute before waking. Once she saw Elisabet’s smiling face, she raises her brows. “How could you be this happy, Sobeck?” Elisabet shrugs. She is happy. Not only is she  _not_ alone but her friends are alive. They’re here with her. She doesn’t need to spend the rest of her life alone in this bunker. She leaves before nearing Patrick.

She notices unlit candles surrounding Patrick’s cryo pod and stops where she stands as she frowns. Her mind whispers that the reason that anyone would put flowers or candles around something is that  _someone_ died. The dread in her stomach grows, tightening roughly and she feels the all too familiar beginning of a lump forming in her throat, hands slowly becoming clammy. The thought lingers in her mind as she steps up to Patrick’s pod, and a heavy sense of fear grabs at her stomach. Her heart races in her chest. She suddenly doesn’t feel too well.

She doesn’t wanna find out if her friend survived cryo-sleep or not.

But she has to, she needs to see what went wrong.

Elisabet braces herself for the worse.

With a deep breath, Elisabet dusts off the cryo.

**_MALFUNCTION_ **

NAME: **PATRICK BROCHARD-KLEIN**

POSITION: **ALPHA | ELEUTHIA**

NATIONALITY: **FRENCH**

STATUS: **DECEASED**

“ _What_?” Her voice sharpens, and her heart thuds inside her chest as she presses her hands against the pod, only to see a skeleton figure inside the pod.

 _He’s gone_.

A feeling of ice-cold shivers attacks her body. The lump in her throat grows and she struggles to swallow it down. Patrick had promised her he’ll return her book back to her. She remembers his soft smile when they shared a piece of cake they made together and some wine they had stored. She stumbles back, tripping over a candle before quickly going to Naoto. Fear begins to wrap itself around her and she hopes that no one else is gone. Fuck, she  _prays_ that no one else is dead.

**_MALFUNCTION_ **

NAME: **NAOTO BAJWA**

POSITION: **ALPHA | DEMETER**

NATIONALITY: **INDIAN**

STATUS: **DECEASED**

A gasp escapes her and she could feel a pressure building up behind her eyes, tears beginning to form, and the knot inside her stomach tightens.  _No_.  _This can’t be happening_. Naoto had gifted Elisabet poems he had created. She remembers his nervousness around Captain Okilo because he had a crush on her and was too scared to tell her. Elisabet encouraged him to tell the veteran how he felt through his poems but it seemed like every time a poem reached Captain Okilo, she would discard it and go back to work. Naoto was her friend, but he had made an effort in telling Captain Okilo how he felt.

Shaking her head of memories long ago, Elisabet stumbles back and she reaches Antonio.

**_MALFUNCTION_ **

NAME: **ANTONIO GARCIA**

POSITION: **ALPHA | POSEIDON**

NATIONALITY: **MEXICAN**

STATUS: **DECEASED**

Not Antonio too.

He was a quiet man. When his work with POSEIDON was done, Elisabet would often find him in the lounge room playing video games. Sometimes she’ll join him when the stress was too high and the fear kept her awake at night. They’ll play together, quietly, only speaking when a certain quest came up. It was nice. Video games easily made Elisabet forget her worries for a few moments, only focusing on looting gold, rescuing the girl, winning the war. Any deaths within the games were soon respawned. You’ll never die. Margo and Travis would join them as well. And for those late nights, they were knights in shining armor.

She’ll never get to play video games with him again.

A watery smile plays on her lips when she remembers the nickname they gave Antonio. Waterboy. Antonio had lived in the beaches of Mexico, and was always proud of showing his surfing trophies and his collections of seashells he had grabbed over the years.

With her heart thudding like a drum in her ears and a sense of emotions building inside of her, she hurries to the last pod, hoping that Dimitri was still alive. For  _fuck’s_ sake, they haven’t even finished playing their game of chess.

Dimitri owed her a chocolate bar.

**_MALFUNCTION_ **

NAME: **DIMITRI** **VOLKOV**

POSITION: **ALPHA | AETHER**

NATIONALITY: **RUSSIAN**

STATUS: **DECEASED**

Dimitri was the oldest person in her dream team.

He was a man who had a wife and two daughters. He only knew little English and told Elisabet to teach him English so that he can speak to the other Alphas. He was such a caring man, he was like a father to them. Their games of chess were quiet. The board game stretched out in front of them, their pieces being moved to the blocks. If they won or lost, it didn’t matter. No one died in chess. You can come back and rethink your strategy in chess. At the end of each win or loss, they’ll exchange the prize. A book here. A movie there. Some ice cream. Elisabet almost won their last game of chess with the reward of a promised chocolate bar from Dimitri.

“No.” She whispers, her chest tightening, squeezing the air out of her lungs and horror wraps itself around her stomach. “GAIA, what is this?” Did she even sound like herself? God, her friends are  _dead_. _Gone_.

They won’t come back.

They’ll _never_ come back.

“I regret to inform you that the cryo-pods of Patrick, Antonio, Naoto, and Dr. Volkov have malfunctioned. They passed away in their sleep.” GAIA pauses and Elisabet could hear the sadness and guilt behind her voice. “I am sorry, Elisabet. I couldn’t have saved them.” The regret in her voice is upsetting.

Elisabet turns around slowly, looking at what’s left of her team. They are standing and stretching and smiling as they quietly ask each other how they are doing, oblivious to what Elisabet has found out. Half of her team, gone. _Dead_. She swallows thickly, before pushing her hair out of her face and looking at them.

“Guys,” her voice cracks only for a brief moment, and they look at her, stunned to hear a different tone of her voice. Samina walks over, seeing the look on her face and her friend is concerned as she places a hand on Elisabet’s arm. “They’re dead.” Her tongue feels heavy in her mouth.

“Bullshit.” Travis scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he shakes his head. “You’re fucking with us, Lizzy.”

“ _Impossible_.” Charles stated as Margo gasps, and Elisabet watches as they do the same as Elisabet, checking their pods. Once they see the skeletons inside the cryo-pods, their faces drop and all smiles are gone. Elisabet leans against the wall, knocking over an unlit candle, and she feels her heart squeeze inside her chest. Elisabet doesn’t have to look at them to know what they were feeling.

“My apologies, everyone. They have passed away in their sleep. I was not able to save them in time.” GAIA informs them, her tone regrettable and sad. “My deepest condolences to all of you.”

“No,” Margo whispers, and covers her mouth with her hands, tears running down her cheeks.

“How long have we been asleep for, GAIA?” Captain Ayomide asks, and Elisabet looks up from her position. The Captain is standing beside Margo, a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she sees the carefully neutral look on her face.

“You have all been asleep for 975 years,” GAIA responds.

Almost a millennia.

Elisabet buries her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking. She couldn’t believe it but she did. Her friends are dead but she’s ashamed to admit that she feels a small sense of relief. Glad that it wasn’t her. She’s still alive. It wasn’t _her_. She didn’t die and she’s here. Jesus Christ, she feels like a _dick_. But who wouldn’t want to be alive? Oh, if only she could switch with them, give them the chance to live again, she’s done everything. She has no regrets. They should be here. With them. They all should be  _here_.

At least, they didn’t suffer any pain once they passed. A painless death. It is a small mercy.

“Jesus Christ,” Elisabet mutters, shaking her head. These people are her colleagues, her friends, her team. Her  _family_.

She closes her eyes shut but isn’t able to stop the tears from coming. Samina is with her, embracing her, and she could feel Samina’s grief as well as she quietly cries beside Elisabet.

After they mourned and grieve for the losses of their friends and once Elisabet feels as if she cried enough, she stands, a little unsteady. Even though she’s incredibly sad about their deaths, she’s grateful that she has gotten the pleasure to know these people, and the honor to be their friend and colleague. But she supports herself and helps Samina to stand as well. She needs to be strong for her team. They have to be strong for each other. “Let me guess, was Zero Dawn a success?” She questions, clearing her throat as she shuffles near to the door of their bunker.

“Why don’t you all see for yourselves?” GAIA tells them and Elisabet looks back to her team, who are making themselves stand, tears gone. “But before you leave, there is someone who is eager to meet you.”

Elisabet frowns. Who could possibly want to meet them? Opening the door while stating her rank, it opens and she’s immediately blinded with light. Scowling, she hid her eyes behind her hands and waits until her vision adjusts to the light of sunshine. It’s been so long since she has gone outside. Hell, it’s almost been a millennium. She could only remember the steel interior walls of the facility.

Lowering her hands, Elisabet blinks her eyes rapidly before looking forward.

The first thing she sees is… herself?

A teenage version of herself?

What the fuck?

Thoughts muffle and clash together as she looks at a version of herself, a younger her, and a series of emotions pass through her. Confusion. Shock. Realization. Deniability. Understanding.

And then it clicks. The person who is standing before her is a lookalike, a doppelganger even, but much younger.

She is Elisabet’s clone.

She’s the Lightkeeper protocol. Living and breathing, made of flesh and bone. Standing before her.

GAIA activated the Lightkeeper protocol. But she had scraped it. 

Elisabet had eliminated the project, not wanting a second generation to become child soldiers. Their clones would only be brought up to continue to work with GAIA, making sure that everything went according to plan. Elisabet didn’t want that. They would have no real childhood to speak of.

So  _why_ did GAIA activated it?

The person smiles widely, before doing a small wave. “I’m Aloy.” She introduces herself. “You are the Alphas of Zero Dawn. I know a lot about you all.” The girl shuffles from one foot to the other, unable to keep herself still.

Elisabet clenches her jaw.

“A mini Lis?” Travis asks, before laughing as he pushes a hand against Elisabet’s shoulder. “You got yourself a clone.” He’s grinning, amusement palpable on his face.

“Do _not_ call her a clone.” Samina’s voice is sharp behind Elisabet, who could only stare at Aloy. Holy shit, she looks so much like her. “It’s dehumanizing.”

“Not only dehumanizing but cruel and rude. She’s a person, like us.” Margo adds, before stepping up closer and offering Aloy her hand. Aloy looks uncomfortable but glances down at Margo’s outstretched hand before slowly placing her hand in hers. They awkwardly held it there for a moment before Margo laughs, telling her that they should shake hands and then let go. “I’m Margo Shên, Alpha of HEPHAESTUS.”

Aloy apologizes. “I’m not all that too familiar with your culture.” She says, and then glances over at Elisabet. Elisabet is feeling weird. Her existence alone leaves Elisabet feeling as if she’s done something wrong. Something must’ve happened for GAIA to activate the Lightkeeper protocol, and it must’ve been an emergency if not otherwise. Why is she here?

Something went wrong.

Something went _extremely_ wrong that it made GAIA go against Elisabet’s wishes to activate the Lightkeeper Protocol.

Anger grows at the pit of her stomach, and her hands clench behind her body, her mind thinking of all the ways that everything and _anything_ went wrong. She stows the anger away, at a later time, when she’s alone she will let it out. Not in the accompany of her team, and certainly not in front of Aloy.

“Are there any others, GAIA? Of us?” Charles asks, looking upon Aloy, observing her. His lips are pulled down in a small frown.

“No, only her.” GAIA responds to him. “She is the only clone.” At that word, Elisabet can see Aloy visibly flinch before shrugging it off, smiling wider at the Alphas. She doesn’t move closer to them still, keeping her distance.

Charles hums before nodding at Aloy. “Charles Ronson, Alpha of ARTEMIS.” He introduces himself.

“You may address me as Captain Okilo, Alpha of MINERVA.” Captain Okilo says, giving a small bow to Aloy who does the same in return.

“Travis Tate, Alpha of HADES, darling. Do you mind if I call you mini Lis?” Travis grins, and then he slings an arm around Aloy’s shoulders who gives him a glare. He backs off, chuckling as he raises two hands. “I’m joking. Just kidding.”

“Samina Ebadji, Alpha of APOLLO. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Aloy.” Samina introduces herself, bowing her head in greeting toward Aloy. She smiles at her.

Aloy looks toward Elisabet. When nothing is said, she feels an elbow nudging into her ribs and she shoots a glare at Travis. Clearing her throat, she found her mouth has gone dry. “I’m Elisabet Sobeck, but I’m sure you knew that.”

Aloy smiles at her, but it’s small. “I do.” And then she looks at everyone before motioning to behind her. “You should all say your final goodbyes. It’s not safe to stay up here for long and night will come soon.”

And that’s when Elisabet tears her eyes away from Aloy to look around them. It’s… GAIA Prime, but in ruins. She turns around in circles, and realize that almost everything is destroyed. It had seemed like a bomb was dropped here and left everything in destruction. But why is it destroyed? How was it destroyed? What did GAIA do?

But in the distance, Elisabet can see mountains and a setting sun. It’s cold, and there’s actual snow falling on them. Remembering the cold winters when she visited the north, she tilts her head back and lets a snowflake drop onto her tongue. It melts quickly in her mouth and it reminds her of her childhood. Snowball fights, making snowmen, forming snow angels in the snow, or her mother pushing her down a hill on a slide, laughing behind her.  

She shivers, pushing those thoughts away and wraps her hands around herself, and looks back at Aloy. The girl reaches down and grabs a bundle at her feet before offering them. “These are clothes, you should all change into it. I hope they fit.”

Elisabet accepts the bundle of clothes and nods. “Come on,” she says, before looking at her team. “Let’s go say our goodbyes.”

Elisabet enters back into the bunker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired from [Second Dawn](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11125812/chapters/24832140) by [Writerly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerly/pseuds/Writerly)
> 
> hi! :)
> 
> so, as you do after reading an incredible fic and playing an awesome game, it comes to no surprise when you're inspired to write fanfic! now, i haven't written fanfic in like three years, so forgive me, i'm a bit rusty lol 
> 
> uh, i brought back the alphas! lmao, i was like i want to read more stuff about the alphas and well, i wrote a fanfic about these guys, and also, i wish we knew more about them honestly. it's gonna be a bit of a mess bc there are so many characters! but that's alright, i'm hoping to balance it out. anyways, i hope you guys stick around for the ride! 
> 
> thanks for reading :D


	2. Chapter 2

“Well, that went great.” Aloy mutters, shaking her head as she moves toward the zip-line, checking again to see that it’s safe and won’t break. It is the fastest way down GAIA Prime, and Aloy wasn’t too sure about the skills of mountain climbing for the Alphas. She is sure that it’s far too dangerous for them to go down the mountain like that, with so many places in ruin, and the drop down was too far. The zip-line is safe, Aloy made sure, _and_ it was fun.

“They aren’t accustomed to you, Aloy.” GAIA responds to her.

“I know, I know.” Still, Aloy knew that this would have been awkward from the start. She knew that Elisabet would feel uncomfortable upon knowing that Aloy exists. Knowing that the Lightkeeper protocol was to never be activated, and yet, Aloy is here. “She hates me.” Aloy deadpans, glaring at the zip-line in front of her.

“No, she does not.” GAIA’s voice is tender as she speaks to her. “Many things have come to her knowledge, such as the deaths of the Alphas, that Zero Dawn worked and the earth is full of life, and one of them being you, Aloy. She needs time to adjust. It won’t happen overnight.”

Her shoulders slip as she leans her forehead against the cool surface of the hanger. “I know.” She sighs deeply. “How did they take it?” She's referring to the deaths of the Alphas.

“Nothing unexpected. They grieved for them. They’ll come to accept their passing.” GAIA tells her and Aloy nods. “I am sad that I was not here to prevent their passing.”

Aloy nods, leaning away and gripping the rope in her hand. “Me too.” Aloy turns her attention to the landscape.

When Aloy had found the Alphas, she was incredibly relieved to find them sleeping, and not dead. Most of them were alive.

Elisabet is alive.

She could barely believe it. For so long, Aloy had thought that she has been a motherless girl. The Nora outcast with no mother. She held onto the hope that her mother was out there, somewhere, waiting for her. But as she traveled outside of the Sacred Land and deep into the landscapes of the known world. 

Aloy held onto the belief, as she followed Elisabet’s path across the land, that Elisabet was waiting, that she was somehow still alive, and waiting for her. 

Aloy had tried to convince herself that it wasn’t possible, that a human being simply could not survive a thousand years. She always scolded herself that it couldn’t happen, even if the Old Ones had found a way to save the earth, they could not find a way to survive a thousand years. But that hope only grew as she found more holos of Elisabet and the Alphas.

And then, it only became real when Aloy had reboot GAIA.

After the few weeks that GAIA had begun to rebuild herself and she stopped referring to Aloy as Elisabet, the AI told Aloy that the Alphas were asleep, not dead, but asleep. They were enclosed inside a nuclear bunker, far inside the mountain, that only opened to Elisabet’s rank or GAIA’s command. 

And there they were, sleeping for a thousand of years, and then reawaken. 

Aloy remembers falling to her knees in shock, feeling overwhelmed, a wave of emotions crashing against her and immediately crying of joy. They are  _here_. They could see the world they made with their own eyes. Elisabet is alive, sleeping.

Aloy has her mother.

She isn’t the motherless girl anymore.

That is one name that the Nora cannot call her anymore.

Aloy was saddened to find that not all of the Alphas had survived. Their deaths came after GAIA’s self-destruction and before the Proving. Aloy was far too late to awaken them. Still, Aloy marked their strange cots with candles and flowers. She only hoped that their spirits were among the world they created, in the seeds of the foods they grow, in the wind that they breathe, in the water that they drink, in the dirt under their boots, in the stars above their heads, around them and with them, always.

“We should give them a proper burial. Not in there. Out here, in the world they made.” Aloy tells GAIA after a moment of quiet and GAIA agrees with her.

“That would be wonderful. It’ll give the Alphas a form of closure.” But Aloy isn’t sure how she’ll bring about the corpses down from GAIA Prime. Of course, it’ll be tricky, but she could do it. She could find some free land that isn’t guarded by Stalkers or other machines to bury them into the soil. Would she be able to do it now? Maybe, if the Alphas would want to set camp at the bottom of the mountain. Or perhaps they could scatter their ashes out into the world instead. Yes, she’ll ask them if that’s what they want.

She’s sure that it’s too much to take in all at once for them. They could set out tomorrow, to Meridian if they want to. Whatever the Alphas want to do, they are in no rush anymore. The world isn’t ending. They can enjoy themselves.

Aloy has already cleared a path for them, having killed the surrounding Stalkers, Glinthawks, and Stormbird. It was hard but worth it. Their carcasses only littered the ground.

She’s brought out of her thoughts when her name has been called. Turning around, she spots the Alphas before smiling at them. “If you all like, we can scatter their ashes or I can bring their bodies down, give them a proper burial if that’s what you all wish. You can decide.” She nods toward them.

Aloy waits as they discuss it among themselves, and once they’ve come to their decision, Aloy helps. They’ve decided to scatter their ashes out to the world, and Aloy doesn’t complain. She gives them their time as they scatter their ashes out into the wind and into the world below, and once it is done, she could see their eyes fresh with tears again.

“How are we going to get down?” Captain Okilo asks her after a moment of silence, then she moves closer to her, eyeing the zip-line and the way below.

Grinning, Aloy points at the zip-line. “Don’t worry, it’s safe and won’t break. I’ve used it many times before, and it’s the fastest way down.” Pulling the zip wire toward her, she smirks at the Captain. “Besides, it’s pretty fun.”

“Are you sure there isn’t another way down?” Samina asks, worry etched into her face.

“Well, there is, but it’s much more dangerous. I don’t assume any of you know how to climb down a mountain?” Aloy watches as all of them shake their heads except for Elisabet and Captain Okilo. “Zip-line it is.” Travis steps up next to Aloy, grinning at her.

“I’ll go first, can’t be that hard, right?” He shrugs and Aloy steps back as he grabs onto the zip wire, she wraps a rope around his waist and tightens it.

“Pull your legs to your chest and don’t let go. Once you reach the bottom, there’ll be tamed machines waiting for you. Don’t hurt them, they’re friendly.” She tells him and he nods, winking at her. She scowls at him before pushing him down the zip-line.

“Hey!” He yells, and then she could hear him shout. “Fuck yeah!” Aloy turns back to the Alphas, and she helps them go down the zip wire once they have received confirmation from GAIA that Travis landed safely on the ground. Elisabet is the last one, and Aloy grabs the zip-line before turning back to her, offering her a hand.

“It’s safe, I promise.” She nods at her.

Elisabet hesitates before taking Aloy’s hand, and Aloy helps her with the zip-line. “I’ll take your word for it.” She tells her and Aloy grins before gently pushing Elisabet down the zip-line.

She waits as Elisabet disappears, hearing a shouted curse from her, and then Aloy follows quickly. She grins as she speeds down the zip-line and finds the Alphas, precisely Travis, throwing snowballs at the other Alphas, laughing loudly. Margo is making snow angels on the snow-covered ground, a blissful smile on her face, and Charles is crouching beside the small stream, pushing his hands inside the stream, a look of bewilderment on his face. Samina is crouching down on the snow beside Margo, pushing the snow away to find grass and dirt beneath, there’s a  soft smile on her face. Meanwhile, Captain Okilo is looking around her surroundings, more specifically, the carcass of the Stormbird and Stalkers from a distance. Elisabet is waiting for Aloy and Aloy hits the ground with a quick roll and stop, grinning.

“That wasn’t so bad, hm?” Aloy smiles at her and Elisabet shakes her head. She opens her mouth to say something but never does when Travis throws a snowball directly to Elisabet’s face. The look on her face is priceless. Snickering, Aloy also grabs a handful of snow before throwing one back at Travis, hitting him in the back of his head. She hears a yelp from him. “Who threw that?” Elisabet wipes the snow off her face, chuckling. 

“Your plan worked, Elisabet,” Aloy tells her before moving toward the Striders that are waiting for them. She’s gotten four Striders, three of them to carry the Alphas while one of them is her own. “Come on, you guys must be hungry. We’ll have to move soon, I have a camp that's not too far from here. We can stay there for the night.”

Margo gasps behind her. “Oh my god, are those horses?” Margo quickly comes to Aloy’s side, and with gentle hands, touches the armor plate of the Strider. The awe and excitement on her face make Aloy smile.

“They are called Striders.” She tells her and Margo repeats the world, before grinning widely. Aloy helps her on the Strider before looking back at them. “You guys want to pair up, three of these Striders are for you.” Aloy helps each of them onto their Striders. In the end, Charles goes with Margo, Samina with Elisabet, and Captain Okilo with Travis, much to her annoyance.

Aloy mounts her own Strider, grabbing the mane of it. “Follow me.” She tells them, before urging her Strider to begin walking. It does, and as they pass the carcass of the Stormbird, Captain Okilo asks her. “What are these machines, Aloy? Did you take them down yourself?”

“I did. They’re difficult to fight, make no mistake. That’s a Stormbird.” She points toward the Stormbird. “And next to it are Stalkers and Glinthawks,” Aloy tells her and she nods, before looking back at Aloy.

“And what did you fight them with?” Her eyes narrow in her direction.

“My trusty bow, arrows, and spear.” Aloy takes out her spear from her back to show them. She smiles at the looks on their faces.

Travis whistles lowly. “That’s a fancy spear you got there, mini-Lis.”

“I made it myself.” She tells them proudly.

They travel down the mountain further with a few questions asked from the Alphas. For example, where is Aloy from? The Nora, a tribe she doesn't consider herself a part of, she answers bitterly. How old is she? Nineteen.

They fall silent as they follow Aloy, taking the long route to avoid confrontation with any machines lurking about, thinking of their safety. Before the sun sets, Aloy finds the spot that she had deemed her home for the past few weeks. It is covered in bushes and sticks, to hide that anyone is here. But it is also hiding the things Aloy had gotten for the Alphas. She collected them when she visited their offices, hoping that these things she found would bring them some sort of comfort and familiarity among this unknown world to them. She wishes to give it to them soon. Perhaps at dinner.

Arriving at the camp, she shows them around. Pointing toward the unlit campfire in the middle, a drying stack of rabbits and a few fish she had caught, and in the trees around them, hammocks for them to sleep in. Aloy begins to get started on dinner, trying her best to not overcook or undercook their meals and watches as the Alphas explore but won’t leave Aloy’s eyesight.

Margo watches the Striders moving aimlessly through the grass with a look of childish wonder that Aloy can’t blame her for having. Captain Okilo is inspecting the weapons Aloy carries with her, a small frown on her face as she checks the arrows. Charles is standing by the trees, watching birds in the trees with a gentle smile on his face. Samina has gone a separate ways from them but doesn’t stray too far from Aloy and the group, she had said she wanted to pray. She asked if Aloy had a rug or blanket of some kind, and Aloy gladly gave her one. From her position attending to the fire, Aloy could see from the corner of her eye, Samina praying, kneeling down with her head to the blanket, whispering words that Aloy can’t hear from this distance. She wonders briefly to what god or goddess she may be praying to. Travis is swinging around in his hammock, singing softly, a tune that Aloy doesn’t recognize. Elisabet is the only one sitting across from Aloy, and she hasn’t said anything but she helps Aloy prepare dinner.

Aloy clears her throat, glancing at her through the flames. “I have something for you. I think you might want it.” She fetches her pouches when Elisabet looks at her with a puzzled look and taking out the things she found. “For all of you.” She raises her voice, and the Alphas turn their heads to look at her. They come over once they see the items in Aloy’s hands.

She begins with Elisabet. “Uh, I found this in your office.” She gives Elisabet a ring she had found, the name  _Diana_ written inside the ring with a date, and she watches as Elisabet’s face pale slightly. Elisabet nods once, swallows harshly before looking at Aloy.

“Thank you, Aloy.” She tells her and Aloy gives her a small smile. The woman clears her throat before leaning back and slowly putting on the ring onto her middle finger of her right hand, and once it’s on her hand, Elisabet touches the ring softly. “You’re welcome, Elisabet.”

Aloy turns to Margo, who sits beside Aloy with a smile and hands her a picture she had found. It must’ve been a picture of Margo’s family, that is what Aloy assumes. The smile on Margo’s face drops a little as she takes the picture with gentle hands, and bows her head. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiles gently at her before turning to Captain Okilo who has sat beside Elisabet, and she gives her a necklace she had also found. It is made of metal and had three names on them.

“My dog tags.” Captain Okilo gasps gently as she takes the necklace from Aloy. “Thank you, Aloy.”

“Of course, Captain Okilo.” With this, she turns to Charles who has sat down beside Aloy. She gives him a letter she had found addressed to Charles Ronson in the office of Tom Paech. It was never delivered until now.

“It’s a letter. I know how much he meant to you. I thought you might want it.” She tells him and his eyes soften as he takes the letter with shaking hands. The man nods and gives her a tight-lipped smile.

“Yes.” He clears his throat. “He did. He had meant a great deal to me. Thank you, Aloy.”

Aloy nods before looking to Travis, and showing him a small device she had found in his office. He gasps and reaches over, yanking the device out of her hand. “My porn stash!”

Aloy frowns. “Your what?” She’s heard of the word before, in one of the holos of Travis, but she couldn’t figure out what it meant.

“Oh my god.” Margo groans and facepalms beside her.

“My pron stash! It’s got all my porn in here.” He grins at Aloy before winking at her. “Did you see what’s inside?”

“No. And I don’t think I want to know what ‘porn’ is.” She leans away from him before looking at Samina, who joined their small circle around the fire.

“You don’t wanna know, Aloy.” Elisabet shakes her head.

Finally, she presents the book she had found while searching in Samina’s office. It is called the Quran. She hoped it meant a lot to Samina. “I found this in your office.” She tells her, giving her the book.

Samina smiles. “Thank you, Aloy.” She hugs the book to her chest and closes her eyes for a moment.

“Well.” Aloy clears her throat. “Dinner’s ready. Eat up.” She gives them each a bowl of rice and meat, handing them each a waterskin of their own before serving herself, and scarfs down the food as she eats.

“First hot meal in centuries, guys. Cheers.” Elisabet says, raising her bowl and the Alphas repeat it as well. “Cheers!” Then they gently hit bowls together before beginning to eat. Must be a culture thing for them, Aloy decides. Once they’ve finished eating, Aloy cleans up with the help of Charles and Elisabet. After that’s finished, she watches as each of them returns to their respected hammocks, and Aloy is the last one to go to bed. She patrols the area before wanting to go to sleep, she wants to keep an eye out, check the perimeter while the Alphas sleep. As she sits on a rock, Captain Okilo tells her to wake her up in a few hours so that they can take turns. Aloy nods.

She’s watching the night sky when GAIA greets her through the Focus. “You’re very thoughtful, Aloy.” The AI tells her and Aloy muffles a laugh, shaking her head as she suppresses a smile forming on her lips.

“I try to be. Just wanted to make them feel comfortable. Give them something they know.” Aloy shrugs, and turns her eyes to the Striders, who are a small distance away but still nonetheless here.

“That’s nice of you. Do not worry. With time, they will adapt to this new world.” GAIA says and Aloy nods, smiling as she turns her eyes to the bright moon in the night sky. She’ll never be tired of this view.

“Would you help me keep watch for tonight? Alert me of any humans or machines coming too close?”

“Of course.”

By the time Aloy’s eyelids grow heavy, and she rubs the palms of her hands against her eyes, she could feel eyes on her. She turns around, checking the Alphas, and sees in the dim light of the fire as Elisabet’s hammock move, the woman’s back to her. Aloy shrugs it off before jumping off the rock, moving toward Captain Okilo’s hammock. She tells the woman to wake Aloy in a few hours, reminding the woman to wake Aloy if she sees anyone or a machine approached them with her Focus, and the woman accepts before ushering Aloy to bed.

Climbing into her hammock, she sighs deeply as she closes her eyes, and with enough peace of mind, she drifts off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Aloy is awoken by Captain Okilo shaking her.

“Aloy, there’s a machine near us.” The Captain tells her, worry in her eyes and Aloy sits up quickly from her hammock. The Captain points toward the machine, Aloy’s mind thinking that it must be a Scrapper or Shell-Walkers but it was only a Watcher. It is patrolling, a fair distance from them but enough to come in close to their camp.

“It’s a Watcher. It barely does any harm, but it does attack when provoked.” She gets out of her hammock, grabbing her spear before motioning for the Captain to follow her. “Be quiet,” Aloy advises her and the Captain scoffs.

“I have been in the army. I know when to be silent.” Captain Okilo tells her and Aloy smirks before moving closer to the Watcher, her grip on her spear tightening as she sticks close to the long grass. When the Watcher has turned its back, Aloy quickly moves, jamming the spear into the Watcher, watching as the override takes away its hostile shell. Once the Watcher is overridden, Aloy smiles and stands up.

“There, now it won’t harm us.” Aloy turns back to the captain who frowns at her.

“I thought you were going to kill it.” Captain Okilo confesses, crossing her arms over her chest.

Aloy shrugs. “Would’ve been worthless when I can override it. He’s friendly now. I don’t need the parts.” Putting her spear away, she walks toward the Captain, noticing that the sky is beginning to change colors. Morning is here. She should patrol the area for more machines and begin to make breakfast.

“I would’ve killed it.” Captain Okilo says as they walk back to the camp together. “But why was it hostile in the first place? Last I know, the machines that GAIA would have created wouldn’t have been hostile.”

“Um, it’s their nature. That’s just how they are.” Aloy avoids eye contact with her before clearing her throat. “I’m going to check the area, I will be back.” She quickly leaves her once they’ve reached the camp, grabbing her bow and arrows before setting off. As she scouts the area, she sets a few traps around for some small game. Once she has caught three rabbits, she returns back to camp, quickly setting to make breakfast.

Aloy finds that mostly everyone is awake, except Travis, and she could see Margo doing some strange stretches or a dance. Aloy doesn’t know. She’ll ask her later. Samina is typing something on her Focus, her hands gliding in the air. Charles and Elisabet are speaking to each other, a bit of distance away from the camp, their backs turned to Aloy. Captain Okilo comes up to Aloy and sits beside her.

“Do you have any guns, Aloy?” Captain asks her as Aloy spins the rabbits up top the fire. She glances at her and nods slowly.

“You mean the Deathbringer?” Captain Okilo gives her a puzzling look. She clarifies. “It’s a heavy gun, that shoots multiple ammo at once.”

“Oh!” Recognition lights up her brown eyes. “A machine gun, yes. Do you have that as weapons? Do you own any guns, for instance: pistols, assault rifles, grenades, sniper rifles? Any of the sorts?” The things she speaks of goes over Aloy’s head and she recognize this as well. The Captain purses her lips together and narrows her eyes. “Which type of weapons are there?”

“We mostly hunt with bows and arrows, sometimes spears or staff. Almost everyone is armed with a bow at the least. When we go to Meridian, there you’ll see them armed with swords, hammers, axes, bows, and other weapons as well. We don’t have any of those guns you speak of.” Aloy shakes her head and finding that the rabbits are done cooking, she takes them off the fire and begins to cut into them. “At least, in my travels, I have not seen anyone use those weapons.”

Captain Okilo nods slowly, staring at Aloy with a peculiar look on her face. “Right.” The Captain pauses awkwardly, before clearing her throat, “Aloy, before we leave GAIA Prime entirely, I like to return back there. We have weapons in there, and I know how to get to them. It’ll bring me comfort in having them in my possession and not in someone’s else.”

Aloy frowns as she looks at Captain Okilo and she explains herself. “So far, I’ve seen the types of machines you have fought, and they are mighty. The thought of you defeating those machines with only a bow and arrow? It surprises me. And, by what I can tell, it seems as if there’s danger everywhere, is there not?” Aloy nods. “If not in machine, then in human form. Aloy, I was captain of a unit in the army. I know my way around these types of weapons. The Alphas are also trained in these weapons, it’ll bring me reassurance to have them, in case anything happens.”

Aloy thinks it over as she gives Captain Okilo a piece of meat, then calls over the Alphas to come to breakfast. Aloy doesn’t want to leave the rest of the Alphas alone if someone or a machine were to attack. It would take time for them to climb back up GAIA Prime and retrieved these guns that Captain Okilo speaks of. None of them, at least to Aloy’s knowledge, are trained in handling a bow. How were they to defend themselves?

And yet, if the Alphas are trained in handling these weapons, then it would relieve Aloy that they could defend themselves. But she’s also seen the power behind these guns. She had realized how imitating and deadly the Deathbringer gun could be if fallen into the wrong hands. If it meant the safety of the Alphas, then so be it.

“Alright,” Aloy says after having eaten her share. “We’ll go.” She nods toward Captain Okilo who stands up, finishing her piece of meat. Aloy turns to the Alphas. “We’ll be heading back to GAIA Prime to retrieve weapons. It would take us some time to climb up the mountain. But in the meantime, do not go too far from the camp. There are machines, and maybe other humans out here, ready to kill. Stay in the camp. If anything comes to close, contact me. GAIA, watch over them.”

“Of course, Aloy,” GAIA responds in the open link of the Focus channel.

Elisabet stands up, frowning. “What kind of weapons?”

“Guns, mostly. We’re gonna need them, Sobeck.” Captain Okilo crosses her arms over her chest, looking at Elisabet.

Travis whistles. “We have guns in GAIA Prime?”

Elisabet sighs, she squeezes the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “Yes, in case we were attacked. Only Captain Okilo and I knew about it. We were to keep it a secret from you all.” Elisabet looks at the both of them before slowly nodding. “I know why you want to get those guns, Cap, and I understand. Just be careful going up there.” She means this to the two of them.

“I’m sorry,” Samina says as she stands up as well, shaking her head. “But I won’t handle a gun.”

“At least a knife, Ebadji.” Captain Okilo insists, turning to look at her. “You won’t even have to use it, only put it on your person in case of an emergency. That’s all.”

Samina frowns as she considers this as Travis steps up. “I’m in. Bring me a gun, Cap, I know how to handle one of those puppies.”

Captain Okilo nods as she looks toward Margo, who looks nervous. “I was trained how to use a gun, but it’s not like I ever shot anyone.”

“Let’s hope you won’t use it,” Aloy tells her and Margo nods. They look toward Charles who nods slowly, saying, “I never used a gun, but I was trained in how to handle one.”

Captain Okilo nods, looking at her friends as she motions at Aloy and herself. “Do not worry, Aloy and I will make sure you all don’t have to use the guns.” The veteran turns to the girl, pointing to the ruins of GAIA Prime. “Alright, well that’s settled. Let’s go, Aloy.” Captain Okilo says to her and she nods, grabbing her weapons and gear before walking toward her Strider. She hops on, and the Captain takes the seat behind her and they return back to GAIA Prime. The ride there is silent as they go, and once they’ve reached the bottom of the mountain, Aloy looks at Captain Okilo.

“Are you sure?”

“I was trained for this, Aloy. Climbing a mountain was part of my training.”

“Alright.” Aloy chuckles before starting to climb. She makes sure that she’s slower than usual, more for the sake of the Captain, to make sure she won’t slip and fall to her death. If the Captain struggles, she won’t say it, but Aloy can tell that once they’ve reach GAIA Prime that the Captain is worn out. She’s exhausted by the time they’ve reached the top, and lies down on the snow-covered ground for a few moments, regaining her strength. Aloy waits beside the Captain, and in the meantime, asks GAIA how the Alphas are doing.

“They’re well. They haven’t left the camp yet, but they are speaking to each other. No signs of any human or machines in close distance is detected.” Aloy nods and once the Captain sits up, they’re back to climbing the facility. Once they’ve reached one of the floors, Aloy lets Captain Okilo take the lead, showing her where the weapons were kept in storage.

The door was half covered in snow, and even if Captain Okilo states her rank, the door won’t open more than an inch. Using her spear, Aloy tries to push the doors open but to no luck. She looks at the Captain. “There was a vent if I can remember. We can try sneaking in through there.”

After pushing away the snow, they find the vent and pry it open. Shoving the snow away that was kept inside the vent, once it’s gone, the Captain crawls in through the vent first with Aloy right behind her. They drop inside the room and Aloy breathes deeply.

“Wow.” She sees a wall full of weapons and another wall full of ammunition.

“We’ve hit the jackpot, Aloy.” Captain Okilo smiles at her before stepping up to the wall of weapons. She looks at the weapons before picking one. It’s long, dark and seems heavy as she takes it out of place.

“This here is a hunting rifle, Aloy.” She shows the weapon to Aloy. “It has a scope, with it, you can see a farther distance. And here are it’s ammo. It uses these long bullets, the impact of these are devastating. With one hit, you’re dead if you hit any of the vital organs. Here, I’ll show you.”

Captain Okilo puts the hunting rifle into Aloy’s hands and she grunts at the heaviness of it. “This is where you reload the rifle, you insert the ammo here then close it by pulling the lever back. The trigger is here, you squeeze it, and the rifle fires. Now, once you fire, the gun will kick back against you, and to avoid that, don’t press it against your shoulder or it’ll pop your shoulder out of its socket. Aim toward the door.” Aloy does as she’s told, holding the gun awkwardly. It feels strange in her hands.

Captain Okilo chuckles before adjusting her handling the weapon. “There, now you have it. Don’t shoot or else the bullet would bounce off. The most important part is the safety, right here. You lock it on and the gun won’t fire even if you squeeze the trigger, but if the safety is off, the gun will fire. Make sure to always remember that. And at all times, no matter what, the barrel of the rifle is to face the ground. Don’t point at anyone. Always assumed that the gun is loaded. Got it?”

“Got it.” Aloy nods before handing the gun back to her. She breathes deeply. “I’m gonna stick with my bow and spear.”

Captain Okilo laughs as she nods. “Alright, fine by me.” The woman switches the safety on before sliding the weapon over her shoulder. As the woman goes through the weapons and ammunition, she points it out to Aloy and tells her it’s use. For example, the pistols she brought out, that are meant for Travis, Margo, and Charles. The hunting rifle is for Elisabet, including a handgun. They’ll only handle these guns. One for each. And then a couple of knives, Captain Okilo called them Swiss Army Knife. For Samina and herself, she even gifted one to Aloy.

Then, Captain Okilo decides on taking the hunting rifle, a pistol, a couple of grenades she found, and lots of ammunition. Aloy helps carries these weapons as they exit out of the room and from GAIA Prime. Once they have reached the bottom of the mountain and gotten back to the camp, Elisabet is waiting for them.

“Sobeck, I trust you know how to handle this.” Captain Okilo greets her by taking out the handgun, giving it to Elisabet who takes it with both hands and shakes her head slightly.

“Yeah, and here’s to hoping I’ll never use it.” Elisabet smiles and Captain Okilo squeezes her shoulder before leaving to join the others, giving them each a weapon. Aloy looks at Elisabet and nods at her, pointing at the weapon in her hand.

“I’ll make sure you never have to use it.” She moves forward, motioning to the camp with her head. “We should start heading out, kill some time on the road.” Elisabet nods, putting the weapon away under her clothes and following Aloy back to the camp. Soon enough, they’re all ready for the road, and after Aloy makes sure they’re not forgetting anything, they begin the journey.

After a few hours of traveling, they take a break to stretch out their legs, and Aloy goes to relieve herself. When she has finished, she finds Elisabet and Captain Okilo with their weapons in hand, a conversation at hand as Aloy strides over to them.

She clears her throat to announce her presence. “What are you guys doing?”

They look over at her, stopping their conversation. Captain Okilo nods at Aloy. “I was just helping Elisabet with her handgun, we were practicing aiming again.” Aloy looks at the weapon in Elisabet’s hand, it’s pointed on the ground and has the safety on.

“Can I try?” She motions to the gun. She's only had a few experiences with these guns before, but she still prefers her bow.

“Oh, sure. Do you know how to hold one?” Elisabet asks as she steps closer to her, and Aloy nods as she takes the handgun gently from Elisabet’s grasp.

“Yes. Captain Okilo taught me.” Aloy steps away from them, intending to keep distance from them both if an accident were to happen. Her grip on the gun is firm as she points the gun toward a tree in front of them, and she takes in a deep breath.

“Bang.” She makes the motion of pulling the trigger but a bullet never comes. She glances at the weapon in her hands, wonders if this small weapon could actually cause so much damage to a person, and on some occasions, even fatal death. It's an Old Ones weapon, it must be deadly. 

Aloy gives it back to Elisabet, shaking her head. “Guns are so primitive.” Both women laugh as Elisabet takes the gun back carefully, before reaching down and putting the gun away at a leather strap on her thigh under her skirt before standing. Elisabet points at the bow on Aloy’s back. “Could I try?”

Nodding, Aloy smiles at her. “Do you know how to handle one?” She reaches for the bow at her back.

Elisabet grins. “Nope.” With Aloy’s guidance and tips, Elisabet is holding her bow in her hands at Aloy’s approval. The three of them watch as Elisabet pulls back an arrow and completely loses it. She hides her smile behind her hand as the arrow goes out of shot, nearly hitting Travis as he comes back from the trees.

“What the fuck, Lizzy?” He shouts and she gasps, before laughing as she lowers the bow.

“Sorry!” She grins at him, before looking back at Aloy and Captain Okilo. Aloy smiles sheepishly at her, before nodding at the bow. “You’ll get better at it if you want to practice more.”

“I’ll get the hang of it.” Elisabet smiles at her before giving her bow to her. Attaching it on her back, Aloy looks back at the Alphas.

“We still have a little of daylight left, we should keep going.” Aloy nods to the setting sun, and Captain Okilo agrees as she lightly taps at Aloy's shoulder. “Yeah, let’s hit the road.” Captain Okilo says before moving back to their Striders. Aloy looks at Elisabet, and the woman steps closer to her, her mouth open to ask something before Captain Okilo calls out over her shoulder, cutting Elisabet before she could speak. “Ride with me, Sobeck!”

“Well.” Elisabet smiles at Aloy, a hint of mischief in her eyes before leaving, nodding at the girl. “I'll see you later, Aloy.”

Hours fly by, the Alphas talking amongst themselves as Aloy guides them at the front of the group, and once she finds a safe spot for the night, specifically an abandoned house, they stop. After dinner has been eaten, Elisabet decides to take first watch for the night and Aloy agrees, but asks for the woman to wake her if there are any machines or humans.

Her sleep is restless and filled with nightmares. She awakes with a start, her chest heaving and her breath quick as she sits up from her hammock. GAIA comes online through the Focus. “Aloy, are you all right?”

Aloy swallows roughly, her mouth dry as she blinks rapidly, touching the scar at her neck. “Yeah, fine.” She mutters, before moving out of the hammock and with the Focus view, she sees the Alphas sleeping on the floor, a dim fire lit outside of the house. Checking the time on the focus, Aloy sees that it close to midnight, Elisabet’s watch should be finished.

With quiet footsteps, not wanting to awake the Alphas, Aloy wraps her blanket around herself and grabs her bow before leaving. She finds Elisabet sitting upon a rock a few feet away, her Focus glowing a gentle green, and Elisabet turns around to look at her.

The woman doesn’t say anything as Aloy climbs on the rock to sit beside her, wrapping her blanket around herself to trap the heat inside. “I can take watch, you should rest,” Aloy tells her and Elisabet chuckles softly from beside her but doesn’t move.

Aloy looks at the stars and moon above them, not wanting to stare at Elisabet because she can’t believe they are here. Well, she can believe it, but it’s incredible. How did the Old Ones survive a thousand years by sleeping? It surprises her.

Elisabet interrupts the silence by pointing to the moon. “We put a man on the moon, you know.” It doesn’t face Aloy in the slightest. She remembers in her journey of searching for traces of Elisabet’s work, she recalls the spaceship Odyssey that failed in outer space. Elisabet was devastated by the news, Aloy remembers that it also had a second complete version of APOLLO that was lost to the stars.

And yet, a man on the moon? Sometimes, Aloy wonders what humankind would look like right now if Ted hadn’t purged APOLLO when the Alphas went into cryo-stasis. Where could’ve they be? In the stars, instead of here, on earth? On a different planet than the world that she comes to know as her home? Or, perhaps, here in the world equipped with the knowledge of the Old Ones, and maybe, even learned from the Old Ones mistakes and strive to make the world a better place.

Aloy believes her. “What else did you do?” Her voice is quiet, filled with awe as she tries to imagine what it would feel like if she tried to walk on the moon. She’d probably die, of course, without any proper equipment.

The smile on Elisabet’s face is grand. “We even landed on a planet called Mars, as well. We wanted to search and explore other planets as well, but we, unfortunately, didn’t have the time, money, or people for it.” With the soft dim light of her Focus, Aloy can see the happiness in her eyes as she sits back on the rock, leaning on her elbows as she points to the moon. “‘One small step for man, one giant step for mankind’. Niel Armstrong.”

“Did _you_ went to the moon? Did you touch the stars?” Aloy asks her. Elisabet shakes her head, a faint soft smile on her lips.

“No, although they did invite me for an expedition. I turned it down ‘cause you know, my focus was here on Earth. Not in outer space.” Elisabet sighs deeply, resting back. “Now that I think about it, I should’ve gone with them. It would’ve been pretty fucking amazing.”

“Could you tell me more about it? The moon, and the stars?” She tries to mask the excitement in her voice, but couldn’t when she see Elisabet’s smile widely. There is a brief pause in her movements, as she glances at Aloy with a bit of confusion before nodding.

“For starters, the moon isn’t made of cheese.”

Aloy listens quietly as Elisabet tells her of the moon, the stars, and the planets of the universe. 


	4. Chapter 4

“Good morning, Aloy. You look like death.”

Captain Okilo smiles at her as Aloy trudges into camp, yawning as she rubs at her eyes sleepily. She shrugs as she sits down beside the captain, the woman hands her a bowl of cooked rice and eggs. She supposed that she and Elisabet shouldn’t have stayed up so late, talking about constellations and stories of the galaxy. But, Aloy doesn’t mind.

She’s curious about how they had gotten the eggs. “How did you guys get eggs?” Aloy looks at her, and the captain grins as she points at Travis, who is crouching in the river a few distance away from them.

“Travis found some hens, he woke us up chasing after them. You should’ve seen it, he’s covered in bite marks and shit.” Captain laughs as she gives Aloy her waterskin, and Aloy nods her thanks as she begins to eat. While eating, she looks at the Alphas, Margo and Elisabet are with their Striders, speaking to each other, it seems. They must be talking about how the Striders work, and Aloy wonders by the glow of their Focuses that GAIA is informing them about their components.

She finds Samina seating beneath a tree, reading the book that Aloy had given her. Charles is milling about, picking up after them as he packs for the journey ahead, he’s humming something that Aloy doesn’t recognize. Captain Okilo is cleaning her rifle beside Aloy, whistling a tune quietly.

After she finishes eating, she walks to Travis, with the intent to wash out her bowl so that they can leave soon. Travis's back is turned to her, and he dunks his shirt under the water before pulling it out, muttering curses under his breath as Aloy joins him.

She crouches down beside the stream, and she lowers the bowl in the water, cleaning it out as she looks up at him. “I heard you were attacked by chickens.” She’s grinning now, amused, and Travis turns to her.

He’s scowling at her. “Fucking hens. I just wanted some of their eggs so vegan didn't have to eat any meat but guess what? They fucking jumped me.” Travis shakes his head as he squeezes the water out of his clothing, but Aloy's smile is gone now as she stares at the scars on his chest. “Then, after chasing them, I just had to trip on some shit and get covered in it! The Alphas thought it was hilarious, I fucking didn’t.”

Aloy sets her bowl down beside her before standing, concern but curiosity growing in her. “Travis,” she says, before pointing at the faded scars on his chest, there are two scars, each of them under his breast. “What happened? I didn’t know you were a warrior.”

Travis turns his attention to her, confusion in his eyes before he looks down at himself. “Oh,” he laughs, shakes his head as he touches his chest, throwing his shirt over one shoulder. “I’m no fighter, kid, but these scars weren’t earned in battle.”

Her eyebrows furrowed together. “But – ”

“I’m a trans man, Aloy. Do you know what that is?”

Aloy shakes her head. She has no idea what that is.

“I was assigned at birth as a female, but later transitioned to be a male. I had both top and bottom surgery.” Travis tells her, smiling lightly as he looks at her and Aloy understands. He puts his shirt on as she crosses her arms over her chest.

“Oh, we call them Two-Spirits.” Aloy has met a few of them, actually. She has friends in the Sundom who are Two-Spirits. “But, we don’t have surgeries. They choose to dress however they like.”

Travis looks at her, nodding. “But,” he clenches his jaw as he looks at her, his body shifts from relaxing to stiffness. “Do they live peacefully? You know, are they always under constant fear of being killed on the streets for being who they are?”

Aloy frowns deeply. “Well, I know that after the end of the Mad King’s reign, they have been living in peace so far. The new king lets his people love freely. But in the Red Raids, many people were kidnapped and prosecuted.” She remembers hearing stories in the streets of Meridian, of how people had to hide their love for one another away from the public, or couldn't dress the way they had liked or risked being beaten on the streets, and if caught, were sent to the dungeons beneath the Sun Palace. Unfortunately, not many came back alive.

But in the Nora, even if she didn’t see much of them, she saw some same-sex couples or Two-Spirits. She could also say the same for the Banuk.

“Alright.” Travis inhales deeply, before clapping a hand against her shoulder. She stiffens under his touch, and seeing this, he quickly lets go. “Sorry.” He clears his throat. “I’m just worried, ‘cause some of us are queer, and we don’t know if that is accepted with opened arms.”

Her frown deepens. “Why wouldn’t it be welcomed with open arms?”

“Oh, kid.” He chuckles, but it sounds sarcastic to her ears. “There were a lot of reasons why it wasn’t welcomed with open arms, trust me.” He turns to her again, his eyes narrow at her. “But, I thought you guys already moved past that, you know? Moved past our mistakes and opinions.”

She swallows roughly, seeing where this will be heading if he keeps asking questions. “Well, you know, sometimes things don’t change.” She quickly leaves, rushing back to the camp as she grabs her bowl. “Pack your things, we’re leaving!” She tells the Alphas.

She doesn’t want to tell them yet about APOLLO’s purgation.

Not now, at least. Let them adjust to this world, and eventually, she will tell them.

…

The journey south is reluctantly peaceful if Aloy could call it that. She’s still mindful of any machines and humans, and if they were to get too close, she would move the group around the machines, trying to avoid any confrontation. It also helps that GAIA interferes with the machines closest to their path, overriding their hostile compartments and moving them away from their direction.

The Alphas wanted to take a break, and so here they were, walking around. Once they have finished walking around or anything else, Aloy decides that they should get back on the road. 

Climbing back onto her Strider, she checks her things to make sure that everything is in place before the ride begins. She hears footsteps approach and turns back to find Elisabet walking up to her.

“Mind if I join you?” Elisabet asks her, tapping the back of her Strider as she looks up at her. Aloy shakes her head and Elisabet pulls herself up onto the Strider’s back with the help of Aloy. Her hands lightly touch Aloy’s waist and with a gentle kick, the Strider begins to move. With a look over her shoulder, she makes sure that the Alphas are following her, with Captain Okilo at the rear of the group, and she nods.

Turning her attention back to the road ahead of her, she relaxes a little, closing her eyes as a gentle breeze brushes her skin. She hears a chuckle behind her and looks back to find Elisabet watching her with a small smile. “You sure do like the outside,” Elisabet tells her.

Aloy shrugs. “It’s better than being cooped up inside.” She turns her attention to the path in front of them.

A silence overcomes them as they travel. After a few moments, Elisabet breaks the silence. “It’s beautiful.” Aloy glances back at her, to see her looking around their surroundings with a smile.  “GAIA has done a wonderful job, I’ve forgotten how breathtaking the world could be.”

Her eyebrows raise slightly, before smiling as she turns back. “Yeah, you should see the places I’ve been to,” Aloy tells her, grabbing onto the reins lightly. Aloy remembers all the fantastic places she has been in her travels, all the sights she has seen, and the machines she encountered along the way. Elisabet is right, GAIA’s work with the world is incredible. The woman chuckles behind her and Aloy smiles at her.

“If only the others were here to see all of this,” Elisabet comments softly and Aloy feels a stab of guilt pushes through her. “They would’ve enjoyed this.” She wished she had hurried, but at the time, she didn’t know.

“Yeah,” Aloy mumbles, straightening her back as she looks forward. A silence soon follows as they travel, and maybe after an hour, Aloy decides she should speak up. She grows even more restless and uncomfortable as the ride went on, memories of following Elisabet’s path beyond the Sacred Land, and a small tiny hope that Elisabet had somehow found a way to live. She had thought it was impossible. A human being couldn’t simply live for a thousand years. But somehow, someway, Elisabet and the Alphas slept through those years. Comfortably, away from war and the chaos of the new world. Untouched until recently.

Aloy clears her throat before speaking, her voice flat and soft. “I thought you were dead.”

Elisabet’s hands on her waist freeze for a second before slowly pulls her hands away. “I thought so as well.” Her voice is quiet but Aloy doesn’t look back at her, she keeps her gaze forward, her jaw clenching. Her knuckles turn white as she grips on the reins of the Strider.

“How were you able to sleep for a thousand years? I don’t understand. Explain it to me.” Aloy asks and tries to keep a steady posture, but even she struggled to not shake with emotion.

Elisabet takes a moment to gather her thoughts, and then she speaks, “We slept in cryo-pods, a chamber of sorts, to keep us alive. The chamber would freeze us and then, legally speaking, we were pronounced dead so that the cryo-sleep could work its magic, so yes, technically speaking we were dead for a very long time, until GAIA awoken us. She… revived us, I guess you could say, by warming our bodies again and waking us from cryo-sleep. The cryo-pods also kept us from aging, essentially slowing our hearts and organs from working. The cryo-pods were decades in advance, that kind of tech was far better than what we had at the time. Honestly, they were going to be used to travel to other galaxies and planets.”

The frown on Aloy’s face deepens as she struggles to understand what Elisabet has told her. “So, you were dead, for a time, and then awaken?” The Old ones were truly intelligent. It shouldn’t surprise her that the Old Ones found a way, but it did. She wonders if that is one of Elisabet’s creations.

“Yes. We were dead and then revived.” Elisabet tells her. “I guess we got a second chance at this little thing we call life.”

Aloy nods and keeps quiet. Quickly, she searches for Elisabet’s globe out of her pouch and hands it back to her. “It’s yours. I found it. Thought I should give it back.” She glances back to see the smile on Elisabet’s face.

Elisabet takes it into her hands and looks at the globe before at Aloy. “Thank you. But, you found it, after all, I think you should keep it. Promise me to keep it safe?” Elisabet’s eyes are soft with a small spark of warmth in them.

“Are you sure? It’s yours.” Aloy doesn’t wanna keep something from Elisabet without her permission.

“I’m sure. Here.” Elisabet gives back the globe, and with a nod from her, Aloy takes back the globe. She retrieves it back to the pouch. Aloy makes sure to safeguard the globe with her life.

Aloy tries to hide the smile from Elisabet, looking away from her to the path ahead. Elisabet chuckles lightly behind her and her hands returned to her waist, although keeps her touch gentle. As they travel a few feet forward, Aloy can hear a commotion in front of them. Quickly, she squeezes her legs and the Strider comes to a halt, she raises a folded fist.

With one hand, she activates her Focus and she sees four people fighting two Striders, a Sawtooth, and one Watcher. They need help. Grabbing her bow, she dismounts the Strider and looks at Elisabet. “Stay here, they need help.”

A hand grabs her wrist, Elisabet looks at her with worry. “Be careful, Aloy.” She tells her and she nods, the woman lets go of her wrist.

As she knocks an arrow into her bow, Captain Okilo comes rushing up to them, her rifle already in hand. “What did you see?” She asks in a quiet voice, but the alarm in her voice doesn’t leave.

“A fight broke out. I’ll come back. Make sure the Alphas are safe.” She nods at her and the Captain nods, Aloy turns around just as the Alphas comes walking over to them and rushes forward to the battle.

She crouches down between high grass, knocking two more arrows into her bow as she observes the fight with her Focus. Without the Focus interface, she can see that the humans aren’t actually any tribesmen, but instead, they are Cultists. The masks remind Aloy of fighting for her life against the Shadow Carja. But, it’s strange that the cultists are so far from Carja territory. They must be leaving since Avad has called for the imprisonment of the Carja Shadow.

A cultist takes a charging lunge forward, thrusting his spear into the belly of the Watcher, and the machine goes down with a cry. As the cultist revels in his victory, Aloy takes her aim and the arrow is let loss. A perfect shot as the arrow carves through the cultist’s head.

Aloy pushes through quickly, taking this to her advantage as the three other cultists are occupied with the Striders and the Sawtooth. The nearest cultist to her has been thrown against the ground, yelling as he tries to thrust his spear at the Sawtooth upon him, its jaws snapping at the cultist’s face. Three arrows fly from her bow into the Sawtooth’s head and the machine lets out a growl, ignoring the cultist on the ground to favor Aloy.

She slides through the ground as the Sawtooth makes a lunge for her, its body jumping over her as she shoots an arrow into its heart, and the Sawtooth lies slain behind her as she charges for the cultist. She takes her arrow as the cultist reaches for his spear, and with a warrior cry, the spear is thrown to her and she dodges it with her bow, pushing the spear away from her body before slamming the arrow into his chest. The cultist spits out blood and it hits Aloy on the face, but the cultist is already forgotten as she picks herself up again and rushes to the next opponent.

She finds that the two final cultists were successful in bringing down one Strider, and the final Strider is circling one of the cultists, snarling. It’s injured, one of the back legs is leaving sparks in its wake, an arrow in its side and behind. An arrow is knocked and gone as she aims to the head of the Sawtooth, watching as the Strider finally dies as the arrow sinks into its eye, and it gives one more starling cry as its body hits the ground.

The two cultists turn to her as the Strider falls. “It’s the Devil’s Child! Kill her!” One of them shouts as he knocks an arrow into his bow, but with quick reflexes, she aims at the closest cultist’s leg and the arrow flies. The cultist gives out a scream as he hits the floor onto his knees, and she ducks as the arrow from the other cultist flies past her head. Exchanging her bow in favor for her spear, she thrusts it into the man’s stomach and watches as the spear comes out of his back, blood splattering across her.

Her spear is stuck as she tries to rip it out of the body, and she hears footsteps rushing toward her, the cultist yelling as he comes near her. Quickly, she throws herself on the ground and uses the body of the cultist she just killed to shield her as he raises a awe above her, but the blade never comes down.

A shot rings out and Aloy’s eyes widen as she sees a hole open in the cultist’s mask, his blood splashing against her as he hits the ground with a thud. Quickly, she abandons her spear and reaches for her bow, pushing herself to her feet and an arrow is soon knocked as she turns around to see who shot.

Captain Okilo stands in the treeline with her rifle lowered, smoke coming out of the barrel.

She nods at Aloy.

She sucks in a deep breath, realizing that there is no one else out to kill her and the machines are now dead, she lowers her bow. She wipes a hand across her face, and it comes back red as she looks at the fresh blood.

At least it isn’t hers.

Turning back, she wrenches free her spear and she takes out a cloth from her pouch, cleaning the spear as the Captain walks up to them, slinging the rifle over her shoulder. The Alphas are quick behind her, and by seeing the looks on their faces, they’ve must’ve seen the whole fight.

“Holy shit, mini-Lis, you’re a fucking badass!” Travis says, as he comes forward, his eyes are wide but he stops before he could reach the bodies. He looks down at them with surprise before crouching, he begins to ruffle through their things.

Once her spear has been cleaned, she stores it away and so does her bow. She wipes away the blood on her face using the cloth, and is grateful as Captain Okilo comes to a stop before her, handing her the waterskin. She opens it, giving the cloth to the Captain as she washes her hands from the blood and then splashes water against her face. It’s cold, and she welcomes it as it soothes her skin. A red puddle begins to form at their feet.

“Bad guys?” Captain Okilo asks her and Aloy nods.

There’s a frown on Samina’s face as she looks at the bodies. “Was violence really necessary?” She asks, but keeps herself at a distance from the group, not wanting to come closer to the dead machines and the bodies.

“I’m not sure they would’ve wanted to talk anyways, Sam.” Margo comments as she crouches down beside the dead Sawtooth, frowning as she pokes at its plating. “GAIA’s machines weren’t supposed to be hostile. Why are they attacking us?” Margo asks, looking at Aloy with worry and Aloy avoids her gaze, looking at Captain Okilo.

“Bad guys.” Aloy agrees, and she gives the waterskin back to the veteran, then she motions to the bodies. “But, don’t worry, their forces are small and scattered now. They weren’t as strong as they were before.” Aloy walks over to Elisabet, concern on her face as she looks at her.

“Are you hurt?” Elisabet asks her, and her hands reach for Aloy but at the last second, she drops her hands to her sides.

Aloy shakes her head. “No.” She moves so that she could crouch down beside Margo, grabbing her pouch of shards and opening it to see how many she needs.

“What do you mean that their forces are small and scattered?” Charles asks, his arms crossed over his chest as he stands a few feet away beside Samina, a frown on his lips.

“We’re gonna need the shards, take out the heart. Watch me so that you will not harm yourself.” Aloy tells Margo, and the woman nods as Aloy begins to scavenge for the shards from the machines. As she works, she answers Charles’s question. “They were called the Shadow Carja, they were people who worshipped a metal demon, and would kidnap, kill, and loot with no regard to consequences. They wanted me dead. But, I have taken down their army and their leader. You don’t need to worry, their influence is gone.”

She tears the heart out of the Sawtooth before giving it to Margo. “That’s worth a lot, keep it, you can buy things from merchants once we get to Meridian.” She tells her and Margo’s eyes lit up, she nods as she stores the heart away. Aloy quickly scavenges from the other machines as well, giving shards to each of the Alphas to take.

Aloy stands, wiping her hands together on her cloth, cleaning her hands from the oil of the machines. “Why would anyone want you dead?” Travis asks as he stands up, his arms full with pouches and things he found from the corpses.

“Because,” Aloy turns to look at Elisabet, pointing at the woman. “I look like her.”

The Alphas look at Elisabet then at Aloy.

“What the fuck? Why? Elisabet hasn’t done anything wrong.” Charles asks her and Aloy nods as she begins to walk toward their Striders.

“They perceive me as a threat.” Aloy shrugs as she grabs a hold of the back of her Strider, hoisting herself up as she looks at the Alphas. “But they’re not wrong. I am a threat.” She grins at them.

Elisabet’s eyebrows raise as she looks at Aloy, and then looks at her friends. They shrug but comes back to the Striders. Aloy helps Elisabet up onto the Strider, giving her a hand and she takes a seat on the back of the Strider. She urges her Strider to begin walking.

“Devil’s Child? What’s up with that?” Elisabet asks her, hands returning to her waist as they begin again.

“Those are stories for another day, but let’s get going. Night is coming.” And sure enough, the skies are colored with oranges, pinks, and purples, with a few clouds forming, the sun hiding behind the clouds. Aloy really wants to take a bath, to get rid of all of this blood and mud. She knows that there is a camp nearby, they could rest there until daylight. 

Aloy tries to ignore the quiet conversations from the Alphas behind her, and the silence from Elisabet. They reach the bandit camp that Aloy and Nil had freed long ago, and there are Nora outcasts and merchants milling about. Once they see her riding up the path, a few of them called out, “Savior Aloy!” but Aloy forces a smile and ignores their praise as she helps Elisabet down.

A Nora outcast comes forward, Kurst is his name, pushing his way through the crowd gathering to see Aloy, and he bows at the waist once he’s seen her. “Anointed - ”

“Aloy, please.” She interrupts him, holding up a hand.

Kurst nods his head. “My apologies, Aloy.” He clenches his jaw, as it most likely feels strange for him to call Aloy by anything but Anointed. “We have a fire and stew brewing if you and your companions wish to join us.” Aloy nods, turning to look at the Alphas as they dismount from their Striders, and the Striders begin to walk away, grazing through the tall grass around the camp.

“Come on,” she says, motioning to the camp. “We can rest here.”

She takes her time eating, watching as the Alphas take a bowl of stew and sit around the fire, speaking with the outcasts. Margo and Travis go toward a merchant, asking the woman a variety of questions, and she sits in silence as Elisabet talks with Samina beside her. She leaves soon after, cleaning her bowl before handing it back to one of the outcasts cooks, before asking for a barrel to bathe in. After finding a spot that doesn’t seem occupied with anyone and away from the group, she makes sure to clean away the blood and mud on her skin with a cloth. Afterward, she dresses and throws out the dirty water, then takes the barrel back. She returns to the Alphas, leaning down to tell Elisabet that she is going to sleep, before returning to the spot from before.

She lays her bedroll on the ground, before wrapping herself in one of her quilts and lying down. Her Focus comes online, and she hears the soft voice of GAIA. “Goodnight, Aloy. Sleep well.”

Aloy smiles to herself. “Night, GAIA.” She drifts off to sleep. 

She doesn’t remember Elisabet coming to sit down next to her. 


	5. Chapter 5

“Hello, Elisabet. How is your evening?”

GAIA greets her as Elisabet comes back from speaking with the Alphas, moving to where she last saw Aloy. She finds the girl already asleep in her bedroll and smiles as she goes to check on her. She knows that the girl often wakes from nightmares during the night, and sits down briefly beside her to see if she is asleep, and by the steadying breathing and her closed eyes, the girl is asleep. Elisabet stands, moving to a corner, away from the girl so she wouldn’t wake her when she is talking with GAIA.

“Interesting. Apparently, these people are apart of Aloy’s tribe.” Elisabet sits down by the small fire on the ground, crossing her legs together. “But, they’re outcasts. Some of them look up to Aloy. It’s strange how they call her Savior or Anointed.”

“Aloy has accomplished feats that are similar to your own. She is a great warrior, and has earned that title.” GAIA tells her and she nods, she fiddles with the ring on her finger. 

“I imagine so.” She pauses, before looking at the fire. Now that they’re alone, with the Alphas distracted by interacting with the tribe, she might as well talk with GAIA. Confront her about what went wrong in Zero Dawn. Elisabet inhales deeply, she glances at the fire before speaking, “Why did you do it, GAIA? Why did you activate the Lightkeeper protocol?”

There is a brief moment where she isn’t sure that GAIA would answer her, as the AI has been avoiding their ongoing questions about Zero Dawn, but it still surprises her nonetheless when she answers. “The world needed her, Elisabet. The world needed a savior when I wasn’t able to save the world from itself.”

She’s confused now, and a small coil of dread begins to wrap itself around her. “Why? What really happened, GAIA?” Elisabet presses. “Everyone seems as if they came out of the dark ages. No recollection of prior history, no idea where they’ve come from, and their civilization are built upon hunting and gathering. I’ve asked if they knew who came before them, and they don’t know jack shit about my generation, they only name us the Old Ones.” Elisabet is frustrated, she feels as each day passes that somehow, this new generation is starting anew. With no recollection of the past, but to begin again with relearning everything that her generation came to know. Reinvent instruments that will bring forward this new generation. And if they do not know their past, then what if they never learned from their past mistakes?

What’s to say that they haven’t moved past their opinions or their ignorance? Or, perhaps, if they have never been enlightened, then they are stuck in their old ways, choosing to instead, be absolutely content in living their own respective bubbles, and never wish to see what the world has to offer? What if they are still embedded in their conservative ideas, into their traditional roles, unwilling to learn things with an open mind and an open heart?

What if they never learned?

“Elisabet,” GAIA says gently. “The world is not in danger anymore. Life still continues to thrive because of your’s and Aloy’s efforts. Do not worry yet of these problems, but focus on living in the moment with the other Alphas.”

“Yes, but what if they never learned from our mistakes? What if they’re stuck in the past? In our past?” Elisabet says, running a hand through her short hair. 

“I believe that they are in the process of moving forward. Humanity has always done what they can to be good. They first need to realize these mistakes, and learn from them.”

“‘We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it’.” Elisabet quotes and she can hear the softness in her voice as GAIA replies. 

“Precisely, Elisabet. It will take time for them to learn.”

Elisabet nods as she looks at Aloy, who still seems undisturbed in her sleep. The girl is strong, Elisabet can tell, and by the bits and pieces she’s gathered, she knows that Aloy has saved the world from something. But Elisabet never thought that the world would’ve needed saving again, she and the Alphas tried everything they could to prevent the world from ending. 

GAIA and Aloy are hiding something from her and the Alphas. 

Elisabet frowns deeply, before shaking her head. She’s listened to the concerns of the Alphas, and even if she mirrors them, she’s not quite sure what happened. GAIA hasn’t allowed them any access yet to their subordinate functions, no communication of any sort, and unable to get a signal from APOLLO. They would need to find a facility soon so that they can figure out what happened. 

Elisabet looks at Aloy before speaking again. “Does she have any family, GAIA?”

“Aloy has not spoken to me about her personal life prior to your awakening,” GAIA tells her and Elisabet nods.

“So, she’s alone.” Elisabet stands from her seat on the floor, and quietly moves over so that she can sit beside the girl. 

“Aloy is not alone. She has you, the Alphas, and I.” The conversation comes to a drift as Elisabet watches the girl sleep soundly, her mind racing with thoughts. If Aloy did have any family, then she knows that they would have not let the girl walk around these lands alone. Elisabet wonders what happened to Aloy, she wants to know her upbringing, what life was for her before everything that happened. If Aloy had a good childhood or not, if she has any friends or a partner, she doesn’t want the girl to be alone. 

Elisabet remembers feeling alone, not having so many friends growing up. Sometimes her mom was her only friend, not that she didn’t mind, but Elisabet would have appreciated it if there were other kids her age that could have been her friends. Kids that weren’t jealous of Elisabet’s intelligence, that did not seclude her from social settings, and that they were kind. 

She hopes that if anything, that Aloy has someone to lean on.  

A moment later, Elisabet receives a message from GAIA on her Focus. She opens it, only to find that it’s a holo-video. Elisabet presses play. 

There’s a small child, it seems, with long red hair and dressed in furs and leathers. The girl stands from sitting on the ground and looks up with awe and surprise. “Lights - everywhere!” Elisabet stares at the kid and realizes that it must be Aloy as a child. Somewhere around six or seven years old, she guesses. Aloy is wearing the Focus. 

Elisabet watches as young Aloy goes jogging, and then finds a holo-call of a man. She feels a warmth begin to spread from her chest as Aloy tries to figure out what to do with the Focus and a smile plays on her lips as she watches. The video ends after Aloy discovers a holo-call of a man saying happy birthday to his son. After Elisabet rewatches the video a few more times, she realizes that the man in the holo-call must've been one of her workers, wearing their clothes, and Aloy must have discovered him in one of their facilities. 

Elisabet glances down as Aloy’s sleeping face, the girl’s mouth slightly opened as she drools on her blanket, it makes her smile a little. She wraps her arms around her knees and continues to rewatch the holo-vid that GAIA gives access her to.

Elisabet knew that after dinner was eaten, all the Alphas had gotten up and went to speak with the people at this camp. Elisabet wanted to speak with some of them as well, questions about why the machines were acting hostile, or why they called Aloy ‘Savior’ or ‘Anointed’. But she wanted to make sure that Aloy wasn’t alone when she fell asleep, Elisabet didn’t precisely know the intentions of the people in this camp, and she wanted to make sure that nothing happened to Aloy. She also wanted to stay near the girl because she has noticed that the girl seems to relax whenever Elisabet is around her, having had must’ve been woken up from nightmares, or perhaps, memories of her past.

It had also given her time to think. She remembered the fight early in the day when Aloy had taken down a few men and machines with ease. Aloy is a fighter, a warrior, no doubt about it. She was worried that they could potentially kill her, but GAIA’s reassurance still couldn’t stop her from being concerned. A slip of a step, or a mistake there, and Aloy could’ve been dead.

If Ayomide hadn’t shot the last man, well, she isn’t sure what she would’ve done. It definitely surprised her when Ayomide had raised her rifle, she didn’t expect it so soon. Yet again, her friend is a veteran, and a soldier, she was trained in combat and war. Elisabet didn’t like the fact that she killed, but in this world, it’s most likely a necessity to live. Survival of the fittest. It’s certainly not the world she used to live in. It’s different, with tribes, and machines everywhere, and people who would want you dead.

She hates that Aloy has to kill out of necessity.

She hates that the girl has to fight for her life when this was never supposed to happen. Somehow, someway, APOLLO went wrong. She didn’t imagine the world to be this way.

GAIA doesn’t answer her questions regarding the subfunctions. She dodges them, always turning the conversation into another subject, and it makes Elisabet wonder what GAIA is hiding. The Alphas are also worried, Elisabet can tell, when each of them couldn’t connect to their according subfunctions. No response.

Elisabet sighs, checking on the girl once more to see that she is still asleep before moving toward a corner of their space. She leans against the wall, before opening her Focus interface and press play on the video. Samina had suggested to all of them to begin writing journals or recording videos about their lives in the new world, to write down their experiences or thoughts and feelings. It’s incredible that they are here, and they have to record everything they see. No other human, as far as Elisabet has known, was able to survive cryosleep for a thousand of years and find a new world.

“This is Dr. Elisabet Sobeck, Alpha Prime of Zero Dawn.” She moves her air away from her face, blowing out a sigh as she looks at the hologram of herself in front of her, the Focus recording. “The day is January 23, the year is 3041, the time is 10:36 PM. It has been a couple of days since we’ve awoken from cryo-stasis and to a new world. Five days, at least. We’ve been traveling ever since. The world is beautiful.” Elisabet smiles, and looks up from the hole in the ceiling to see the stars in the night sky, a couple of clouds hugging the sky.

“GAIA hit it out of the park. We saw some rabbits, a few foxes, and some bore around here. We’ve seen different types of machines as well, Aloy calls them Grazers, Sawtooths, and Lancehorns.” She pulls up one leg, leaning her elbow against it as she looks at the hologram.

“Aloy hunts these machines for parts and resources, also for shards. Shards are monetary in this world, and Aloy has given us each our own pouches of shards. They also use the parts of machines for armor, Aloy has embedded it to her own clothes. She fought against a few machines earlier, apparently, Margo told me it was a Sawtooth, a Strider, and a Watcher. Among those machines were a group of men, and they called Aloy a Devil’s Child. They attacked Aloy but Aloy won the fight. They were some enemies of Aloy, she told us that their forces were small and scattered.” Elisabet glances over at the girl, who still hasn’t moved from her corner and has continued to sleep.

“She’s one hell of a fucking fighter. She took them all on. Aloy wasn’t even scared, but I was. For her safety, I thought she would’ve been killed.” Elisabet shakes her head, sighing loudly. “GAIA’s percentages were positive, she didn’t worry that Aloy would’ve been killed. But anything can happen, you know?”

“Anyways,” she says, looking through her hologram to see Margo on the other side of the wall, Travis beside her as they are speaking to the Nora outcasts from the camp. “The Alphas are talking with the people here in this camp, a group of Nora outcasts, they’re from Aloy’s tribe. But Aloy seems like she distances herself from them. As if she doesn’t consider herself apart of them. It’s like a kid growing up in a religious family, but isn’t religious themselves.”

“She’s strong, though.” Elisabet looks at the bundle of red braids on the ground, her body moving only slightly with every breath she takes. “Seems like she’s seen some shit and lived. But any strong warrior has their personal demons, and I’ve seen her wake up from nightmares.”

“She’s just a kid. A teenager.” Frowning, Elisabet reaches forward to the pause button on the interface. “I’m going to head to bed, it’s been a long day. Elisabet out.” Closing the Focus interface, she watches as it falls away and finds shadows of the flames of the fire outside of their spot, soft conversations can be heard.

Getting up, she takes her own bedroll and settles it down next to Aloy before lying down beside the girl. She rests her hands on her stomach, closing her eyes to fall asleep. It doesn’t take her a few minutes before her Focus alerts her of a message.

Opening her eyes, she opens the message.

 **FROM** : Samina Ebadji.

 **TO** : Elisabet Sobeck, Ayomide Okilo, Travis Tate, Margo Shên, Charles Ronson. 

 _The Nora calls Aloy their ‘Savior’ or ‘Anointed’ because they say she has saved them from a metal devil and from the end of the world. She has been an outcast as well, since her birth. The Nora casted her out because she has no mother, (their society believes in a divine goddess named the All-Mother and are a matriarchy) and up until recently, they had to pass a rite of passage, called the Proving, to be accepted back into the tribe. Aloy won the Proving, but at the event, she and other children were attacked and killed_  -

Elisabet startles from reading the message Samina sent to their team when Aloy suddenly jolts awake, gasping as she sits up and grabs her spear. “Woah, woah, easy kid.” Elisabet sits up as well, her hands out, palms facing toward her as Aloy grips the spear in her hands, and looks at Elisabet with wide eyes, fear inside of them.

“Easy, it was just a dream.” Her voice is quiet, soothing, warm as Aloy stares at her for a few moments before nodding slightly. The girl sets down her spear and Elisabet reaches over to grab the waterskin from their things. She gives it to Aloy and the girls drink it with feverishly, some of the water running down her chin and throat, drops falling onto her blanket and clothes.

Once the girl is finished drinking, she gives it back to Elisabet and rests her face in her hands, leaning forward. Putting the waterskin away, Elisabet moves until she’s sitting next to the girl, watching as the girl takes deep breaths to calm herself.

“Wanna talk about it?” Elisabet asks softly, and the girl shakes her head. She pushes her hair away from her face and pulls her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as she leans her head against them.

“No, maybe another time. They’ll quiet down.” Aloy’s voice is barely above a whisper and Elisabet nods. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“No, it’s fine. I wasn’t asleep yet.” Elisabet tells her and the girl nods, she stares at the small fire outside of their space, the shadows of people sitting by the fire dancing on the walls. It’s quiet between them, and Elisabet tries to think of something to talk about, but before she could say anything, Aloy leans over to rest her head on Elisabet’s shoulder.

Elisabet blinks. She didn’t expect this. “I’m glad you’re here.” Aloy whispers with a gentle voice.

“I am too.” With a small touch of awkwardness, Elisabet wraps her arm around Aloy’s shoulders. She looks down at Aloy and the girl has closed her eyes, Elisabet smiles to herself. She holds Aloy until the girl has fallen back asleep, and lies her back down gently in her bedroll, pulling the blanket around her to make sure she doesn’t freeze.

Elisabet presses a kiss against her temple. “Goodnight, Aloy.” Lying down in her own bedroll, she pulls her blanket around herself and closes her eyes, the message from Samina long forgotten.

…

“Good morning, Lis. Did you see my message last night?” Samina asks her, coming up to her as she gives Elisabet a bowl of food. Elisabet nods, taking the bowl from her to see what’s inside, it seems like rice and some meat. Then, Elisabet remembers that she hadn’t really finished reading the message.

“Well, not entirely. I got through half of it before Aloy got up from a nightmare.” Elisabet takes a seat on a rock beside the campfire, Samina sitting down beside her, a few Nora outcasts sitting across from them, speaking to each other and eating their own breakfast.

“How is she?” Samina asks, crossing her legs as she looks at Elisabet, concern in her eyes.

“She’s fine, I think. She won’t talk to me about her nightmares, but she’s alright. I think she suffers from PTSD, Sam.” Elisabet tells her, then takes her wooden spoon and grabs some rice, then remembers to offer some to her friend but the woman shakes her head. Elisabet eats it anyways.

“I would thought so.” Samina frowns, before leaning in closer to speak softly to Elisabet. “Aloy was granted the title of Seeker after the Proving massacre, to avenge the deaths of the other Nora children and to seek answers about her mother. She has been looking for you, Elisabet.”

Swallowing the rice, she frowns as she looks at Samina. Shaking her head, Elisabet lowers her voice as well. “But I’m not her mother, Sam. I didn’t carry her. She isn’t mine. She’s my clo - ”

“Mother of the Anointed!” A man steps up to them both, smiling as he motions to them. Elisabet looks up at the man. He is the same man that greeted them at the entrance of the camp yesterday. “Please, if you and your companion will like to join us, we are going for a hunt. Aloy has told us that you haven’t been on a hunt before, it will be my pleasure to show you all to defend yourselves in these lands and hunt for dinner.”

“Elisabet is fine.” Elisabet smiles at him, uncomfortable at the name of anointed. She gets why Aloy hates being called Anointed or Savior. “And I think – ” one look at Samina to see that she nods, “ – that we will join you. After breakfast is done, of course.”

“Absolutely, may the All-Mother bless you.” The man gives them a bow before leaving, ruffling the hair of another young man before shouting to men to meet him outside the camp. Elisabet turns back to Samina.

“See, everyone thinks you’re Aloy’s mother. Might as well embrace it, Lis.”

“But what if she doesn’t want me to step into that role? What if - ” She feels a hand press down against her shoulder and she looks up to see Ayomide, nodding at them both.

“Good morning.” She takes the empty seat beside Elisabet. “I am sorry if I interrupted, but I had wanted to know if you saw our messages last night, Sobeck.”

“No, I’m sorry I haven’t yet.” Elisabet shakes her head before taking another couple of spoonfuls of her breakfast, trying to eat as much as she can.

“We’ve learned a lot last night. For instance, there were rumors that some believed that Aloy is a curse brought forth by a metal devil, and some had thought that Aloy was the reason why the machines acted out of protocol. But Aloy was raised by another outcast, his name was Rost, he was also killed in the Proving massacre.” Ayomide tells them both, resting her rifle down on the ground beside them. 

She sees as Travis, Margo and Charles come walking up to them as well, bowls of breakfast in their hands and quickly join them. Margo and Travis sit on the floor in front of Elisabet and Samina while Charles takes a seat beside Samina.

Margo speaks up, talking around food in her mouth she pushes it against one cheek. “The machines by GAIA became violent only nineteen years ago.” She points her empty spoon at Elisabet. “They have a name for it, called the Derangement. They said that they started attacking humans out of the blue, which was strange because the machines would avoid the tribes and were passive. After that, there were machines that were made for combat against humans.” Margo tells them, swallowing the food in her mouth before continuing. “It explains those huge machines we saw yesterday. I think HEPHAESTUS made combat machines instead of GAIA.”

Charles continues after her, leaning forward so that they can hear him. “The people here also said that a mountain exploded for weeks, the skies were black with ash and the fires burned for a while. I am certain that it must’ve been GAIA Prime, seeing as how it was in ruins. The tribe here doesn’t know what caused the destruction.” Charles states, a hand against his chin he looks at Elisabet.

“They’re pretty conservative, too,” Travis speaks around the food in his mouth, pointing his spoon at them. “No technology, no getting outside the Sacred Land, only wanting to serve their goddess and the land. They don’t wanna learn from the past and doesn’t accept too kindly to outsiders. Unfortunately, they’ve forgotten where they came from. Margo and I heard stories of how they came to be, so most of their history is relied upon from oral traditions and nothing has been written down.”

Elisabet’s frown deepens. “What else do you guys find out?”

“There are other tribes, called the Carja, the Banuk, the Oseram, and others as well. We’re heading to the capital of the Carja, it is called Meridian.” Samina tells her and Elisabet nods, she was told from Aloy that they were heading to Meridian, but she didn’t know exactly where that is.

“They even said that Aloy is a hero,” Margo says, smiling a little as she looks up at Elisabet. “She saved them from a metal devil and from the end of the world. That’s why everyone calls her ‘Savior Aloy’.”

“A metal devil? Did you know what machine it is?” Elisabet asks her and Margo frowns, shaking her head.

“No, they call it many names, like Deathbringer, or A Buried Shadow, or – ”

“What are you guys doing?” Aloy stands behind them, her bow in hand. Elisabet looks at her, she remembered that Aloy went to buy a few things from the merchants and was told that she would return later. “Are you all ready for the hunt?”

“Yes.” Elisabet stands, her bowl empty as she clears her throat. “Show us how to hunt, kid.”

Aloy smiles at her. “GAIA told me you hunted before.”

“Oh, yeah.” Elisabet points to the rifle over Ayomide’s shoulder. “With a gun like that, only for the holidays.” She only hunted whenever she was at the ranch, often going out to hunt for any deer or other wildlife. “But I don’t think any of us know how to handle a bow.”

“No matter, I will show you each how to handle a bow. Let’s go.” Aloy motions to the group at the front of the camp, some of them equipped with bows or spears, adorned in armor. “It will be fun.” She begins walking to the group.

Elisabet follows after her, the Alphas behind her. Margo says, “I’ve never done archery, guys.”

“Me either. Guess we’ll find out how we do.”

GAIA comes online on her Focus, greeting them. “I wish you each good hunting, and please be safe.”

“Thanks, GAIA.” Elisabet smiles.


	6. Chapter 6

The Alphas didn’t know how to hunt or to fight.

It made Aloy wonder if they were ever taught in their time, but apparently, they said it was never something that happened every day. They didn’t hunt for their food; instead, they had bought it from a store and cook it at their homes. Or, fighting, the Alphas said that they never got into another fight physically with another person, it was more verbal than anything else. They also said that no one would really kill someone in their time, and if someone was killed then the murdered were to be punished and sent to prison.

When asked if the Alphas knew how to fight, only Captain Okilo, Margo and Travis raised their hands. Aloy knew that Captain Okilo was a veteran and a soldier, she didn’t have to worry about her, but she was surprised to find that Margo and Travis knew how to fight.

Margo nods, smiling sheepishly. “I was taught _hapkido_ when I was a kid. I took lessons of it until I was eighteen. My dad wanted me and my siblings to know how to defend ourselves in case something happened.” Margo tells Aloy from her seated position on the ground, she was playing with the grass.

“You know fucking _hapkido_ , vegan?” Travis says, his eyes wide as he looks at her as he leans against a tree.

“Yeah,” Margo rolls her eyes. “You gotta learn in case some creepy ass man tries to put his hands on you.” Travis nods, whistling low. “Right, right.”  
  
“I don’t know what _hapkido_ is,” Aloy says, looking at Margo, she has no idea what _hapkido_ is, the word sounds unfamiliar to her. It must be something from their culture, Aloy thinks.  
  
“Right. Um, it’s a Korean style of martial arts. Here, I’ll show you.” Margo stands up and gets into position, bending her legs and keeping her arms in front of her. Aloy walks toward her and stands in front of her, relaxing into a fighting stance. “Just come at me.”  
  
Aloy nods. She looks at Margo’s frame, before deciding to come forward with a punch. “I’m going to punch you,” Margo nods, Aloy doesn’t want to hit her too hard. Just as she nears Margo, she slaps at the wrist of Aloy’s, takes a firm hold of her forearm, and twists her around until Aloy is lying on her back, the air knocked out of her lungs. She could hear a burst of laughter from Travis, then a groan of pain, and a sharp “Don’t laugh,” from Elisabet.  
  
“What?” Aloy gasps, blinking at Margo’s smiling face as she stands over Aloy.  
  
“Pretty neat, huh?” She extends a hand for Aloy, to which she’s grateful for, and helps her stand up. “I know my way around it, but I’ve never fought anyone. Like in an actual fight.”  
  
“Okay,” Aloy dusts off her backside. “Can I trust that in a fight, you won’t freeze up?”  
  
“No promises.” Margo grins. “But I’ve also never killed anyone, and I like to keep it that way. I’m a lover, not a fighter.”  
  
“We’ll work on it.”  
  
Aloy turns back to the Alphas. Travis shrugged. “I know how to box, that’s it.” Aloy frowns, and then he clarified. “Boxing is fist fighting, really. Whoever doesn’t get knocked the fuck out wins. Made a bit of money on the streets, if I do say so myself.” He grins at them before pulling his arms up and punches the air a few times before relaxing.  
  
“Okay,” Aloy nods. She’s gonna have to work with him as well. And lastly, she turns to Samina, Charles, and Elisabet.  
  
They all shake their heads.  
  
Aloy sighs. She’ll have to teach them. Turning back to Kurst and the group of outcasts, who were teaching their children how to handle a bow and hunt, she motions for Kurst to come over. The man does, quickly coming to her side as she folds her arms over her chest. “I like for you to teach Ayomide, Travis, and Margo how to hunt with the bow. I will take Samina, Elisabet, and Charles, and I will teach them the basics of fighting.”

Kurst frowns, before looking at the Alphas. He turns back to Aloy. “Are they not from here, Aloy?” He asks her and she shakes her head.

“They are from the Forbidden West, a small tribe. Now, will you?” Aloy doesn’t want to explain to him about where the Alphas had come from. It’s too complicated. She also doesn’t want to reveal to anyone the identities of the Old Ones or explain how they are here, for their safety. If there is still a threat out there, if someone is trying to kill Aloy, then what’s to stop them from trying to kill the Alphas? No, it is better if she lies, and keep them a secret from the world. It’ll protect the Alphas.

“Of course,” Kurst nods before motioning to the group. “Please, you have plenty to learn.” Ayomide, Travis, and Margo follow Kurst back to the group and Aloy turns her attention to the remaining Alphas. She grins at them.

“You’ll learn how to fight.” She goes one on one with each of them, separating her time as she teaches them how to defend, attack, how to protect their bodies, or go on the offense. She just wants to teach them the basics, to defend themselves in case Aloy or Ayomide is not there to help, but Aloy hopes it won’t come to that.

She wants to bring them to Meridian, and under the Sun’s king protection, they will be alright. The one-on-one fights have the Alphas exhausted after Aloy goes through a couple of moves with them, and she walks them back to the group. She has them switched, Kurst taking the others for practice with the bow while Ayomide, Travis, and Margo join Aloy. She has Travis and Margo fight herself and Ayomide, giving them pointers once they mess up, telling them to always look for an opening and remember to protect themselves at all costs. It takes them the entire day, the Alphas had an air of ease, with Travis and Margo throwing jokes, but the others had taken it seriously.

Once training and practice were done, just for the heck of it, Aloy brings the Alphas together and tells them they should all hunt one bore. It is purely for her own amusement, and to see if the Alphas had listened to their advice.

“Captain, stay here with me. Let them figure it out.” Aloy tells the veteran woman, just as she was about to follow her friends with her rifle in hand, but she looks back at her than at the group before nodding.

“Yeah, you’re right. They need to learn.” The woman slings her firearm over her shoulder, coming to rest on the tree behind her, she crosses her arms as they settle to watch the Alphas hunt together. They are equipped with bows and arrows, standing behind a bush as they all converse with themselves, but from here it seems like they are arguing.

After a couple more minutes, she watches as they pair up and begin to go two separate ways. Aloy grins as Travis begins to climb a tree, Margo giving him a boost and yelling at him. Elisabet scolds them to be quiet. Finally, Travis latches himself onto a branch and sits upon it, before looking around. She motions for the other group, consisting of Charles, Samina, and Elisabet to move forward.

Captain Ayomide chuckles lightly beside her. “They’re never going to catch anything.” Aloy glances over at her and smiles as she shrugs.

“You never know. Elisabet has hunted before, I am sure she can _try_ to catch something.” Aloy tells the woman and she nods, pointing at the rifle she is carrying.

“Yes, with this, I’m sure but never with a bow.” There’s a spark in her eyes, as if one with happiness as she settles against the tree, relaxing. “You know, we really never used bows and arrows to fight with. We used guns more, they were modern and easy to understand. Bows were a thing in the past for us.” Captain Okilo tells her and it surprises Aloy a little, but then she remembers the machines they created, and the weapons she found the Old Ones having. She can understand why they prefer these guns over bows. Captain Okilo must see the surprise on her face before continuing.

“After the invention of gunpowder and the creation of firearms, everyone quickly adopted it. Sometimes, we used it to our advantage, for example; in the colonization era, the Europeans used guns to kill Natives or Indians, overpowering them.” At this, the captain frowns deeply, she pushes herself away from leaning against the tree and stands next to Aloy. “The Natives were only equipped with bows, but of course, they had no idea how to treat gun wounds, and died quickly. But, historians say that in some cases, it wasn’t the firepower that wiped out most of the Native peoples of the world, but instead the diseases that the Europeans brought with them when they came to the new world.”

“I didn’t know that.” Why would the Old Ones kill other people? For their land, their shards, their livestock? “Did they ever fought back?” Aloy asks her and the woman looks at Aloy with suspicion, she nods.

“They did, but they lost.” She hums lightly. “I thought APOLLO would you teach about this, of slavery and what the colonizers did, what? Did you skip out on your classes?” There’s a hint of a smile playing on her lips and Aloy blinks, before clearing her throat and looking back at the Alphas.

“I was too busy.” In part, it is kind of true, she was too busy training for the Proving. But she can’t let them know that APOLLO was purged, at least not yet. She can’t bear to see the looks on their faces when the Alphas realized what Ted Faro had done. Wiping out the history of the Old Ones, of what they knew, all gone. Just for what? The world will probably never know.

The world won’t learn from its past mistakes, but instead, Aloy is sure, that this new world is repeating those same mistakes again.

Captain Okilo lets the conversation rest for a while, and they return to watching the Alphas. She could see as they mess up, Charles letting loose an arrow and missing the bore they were hunting completely, and it gives a startled yelp before taking off. Travis shouts before chasing after it, Margo as well as they try to shoot arrows at the bore, but missing. Elisabet facepalms from behind her cover.

Samina is perched feet away from them, hiding in a bush and she stands as the bore sprints toward her, but upon seeing her, slips on the ground before urgently turning to the other way. She lets loose an arrow from her bow, and with another yelp from the bore, it hits the bore on its hip. But, unable to hurt its major organs, continues to sprint in the other direction.

“Good job, Ebadji!” Captain yells from beside Aloy and they watch as the Alphas sprint after the bore, yelling. Aloy feels a nudge against her ribcage and looks over at the woman, she’s holding her left arm in front of her.

“Guns were not only hard to fight against, but because of it, many lost their lives to gun violence or wars. I lost my limbs during a war when I was young.” And then, the woman taps beneath her elbow and Aloy watches as her forearm completely dislocates from her body.

Aloy gasps as the veteran hold the arm out to Aloy, grinning at her. “Seems real, huh?” The Captain mutters, and with half a brain to check their surroundings to make sure no one is watching them but also very interested at what the woman just did, Aloy steps in front of the woman, covering her body just in case there is someone around.

“What? How?” Aloy looks at the arm, and she turns it over, pointing at the interior of the arm. It seems like the interior of a machine, with wires and parts keeping it in place.

“It’s a prosthetic arm, of course, made from metal and plastic. We’ve completely master engineering prosthetic limbs to make them look real and seem as if it was human.” The veteran attaches the arm back into its place, smiling as the fingers move in a small wave at Aloy. “But I did lose my limbs, such as both of my legs from the thighs down and my left forearm. Worst days of my life, kid – ” the woman is cut off when they hear a rustle of twigs being snapped from behind them, and Aloy whips around, bow already in her hands and arrow knocked.

Kurst stands before them, bow raised as he looks with wide eyes at them. “Anointed, step away.” He tells her with caution, never taking his eyes away from Captain Okilo. No, she was afraid of this happening. If only she had tried to stop Captain Okilo from showing her.

“ _No_.” Aloy grits through her teeth, shaking with controlled anger. She can’t let the Alpha be punished with death because of this. Aloy won’t let it happen, she’ll fight them if she has to. “Kurst, go back. You haven’t seen anything.” She pleads to him, willing to turn a blind eye to this if he does the same, but by the fear and anger in his eyes, she knows it won’t happen.

People are more fearful to what they do not understand.

“Anointed, she is tainted! Step away!” He motions for her to step away, nodding his head to the side as he aims his arrow at the woman, but Aloy firmly steps in between them.

“Kurst – ” She’s cut off as he whistles loudly, and from the corner of her eye, the Focus comes online with GAIA’s presence. “Aloy, I have alerted the Alphas of the situation.” The AI tells her.

“Sir, I don’t mean no harm -” Captain Okilo says with caution from behind her but they hear rushing footsteps, and then the hunting party joins them, the outcasts quickly surround them.

“Kurst, what is happening?” One of the Nora outcast asks and he motions to the woman behind Aloy.

“The woman, she is tainted!” He cries out. “She is not from this world, she is a devil, as the machines!” Kurst tells them quickly, before motioning to one of his men. “Separate them! Kill the devil!”

“No!” Aloy shouts just as two men quickly make for Aloy, one of them grabs her arms and closes his arms around her, and she immediately goes to attack, elbowing one of them in the face before hitting the other with her bow. The second Nora man yanks the bow out of her hands and throws it to the ground, his hand enclosing around her bicep in an iron grip. She kicks the one who has his arms around her torso in the groin, before struggling as another outcast joins them in dragging Aloy away from Captain Okilo. The veteran is pointing her rifle at them, stepping back as she looks at them and at Aloy.

“No, get back! I mean no harm! I swear!” Captain Okilo urges them, but the outcasts do not seem to listen to her pleas. “I do not wish to fight you!” She points the rifle at two men approaching her from the behind, and she struggles in keeping her eyes on the men behind her and the group, both are which are closing in on her. She decides on turning her back on the group to keep her attention on the two men advancing for her.

Aloy throws her head back, hitting the Nora man behind her on the nose and she wrestles free, she watches as one of the outcasts with Kurst aims his bow and releases an arrow, it sinks into the woman’s shoulder and Ayomide gives out a cry. Aloy gasps as the arrow protruding from her chest and the Captain curses before lunging toward the man in front of her, hitting the rear of her rifle against the outcast in the head, the outcast stumbles and cradles his head. The other Nora outcast, who sees that she is distracted, takes out his knife and runs toward her with a war cry. 

“Captain! Behind you!” Aloy shouts, just as she grabs the arm of the outcast around her and throws him onto the ground, leaving him as she rushes toward them. Ayomide listens and spins around, but is thrown onto the ground by the outcast and his knife hovers above her neck, the captain pushes against his grip with her rifle. Aloy shoves the outcast away from the Alpha and slaps the knife away from his grasp as a wild growl releases from the depths of Aloy’s chest as she slams him against the ground.

Hearing footsteps near them, Aloy pins the outcast by his neck with her forearm and looks up, reaching for her spear so she could throw it to any incoming attackers when GAIA warns her. “It’s the Alphas, Aloy.” Sure enough, it’s the Alphas running back to them. Elisabet sees them immediately and letting go of the bow in her hands goes in favor for her gun, taking it from her waist, points it to the sky, and fires.

The gunshot is loud and makes enough noise to stop them. Aloy releases the outcast man and stands, before rushing toward Captain Okilo, wanting to make sure that the veteran is not bleeding to death. Aloy guards the woman as she lowers the rifle with one hand while lightly touching the skin around the arrow impaled in her shoulder, she curses under her breath. “Do not pull it out so quickly, it’ll hurt more.” Aloy crouches down beside her and presses her hand against the wound around the arrow. The captain nods and chuckles lightly, a lopsided smile spreads across her face. 

“Oh, I’ve had worse, kid.” The Captain grins at her and Aloy nods, frowning deeply as the woman pats her shoulder. 

“Step back,” Elisabet warns, voice cold and threatening as she moves to stand between them, gun pointed at them. “I do not want to use this.  _Step back_.” She urges them, and Aloy grabs Captain Okilo’s arm before pulling her towards the Alphas. The arrow didn’t seem like it hurt any major organs, and it only struck the woman’s shoulder so there shouldn’t be haste to take the arrow out quickly. Aloy needs to get the Alphas away from here immediately. It is not safe for them anymore. Once she sees that the Alphas have her, she turns back, marching toward the Nora hunting party.

Elisabet grabs her wrist before she could near them, and forces her to step back. Aloy stares at Kurst as Elisabet holds her back. “They are under  _my_ protection, I am the Savior.” Aloy says through gritted teeth, staring at him. “You will not harm them. You will not touch them. Do you understand me? Or you will be faced with my wrath.”

Aloy looks at the others. “Speak of this to anyone else, and you will have to deal with me. Not a word.” She hisses, before pointing to the camp. “Leave, now.” The Nora doesn’t move, shuffling uneasily as they look back to Kurst and Aloy. Seeing this, she raises her voice. “ _Now_!”

She watches as they all snap to action, sprinting back to the camp, and the last to leave is Kurst, as he throws dirty looks at them before retreating. Aloy watches them leave and finds that Elisabet is holding her back with both hands, holding tightly onto Aloy’s wrist to prevent her from going after them. Once she sees that she can longer spot their figures, she turns to the Alphas just as Elisabet lets her go.

“We are leaving, now. They’ll come back to kill you.” Aloy looks at them as Charles helps Ayomide to stand, letting the woman lean on him as Travis takes the rifle from her, slipping it over his shoulder.

“But our things – ” Margo protests and Aloy nods.

“I’ll go back for them, I promise. But for now, I need to take you away from here.” She whistles loudly, and watches as their Striders quickly rush towards them, without thinking of it, she grabs Elisabet and pulls her onto her Strider. Once she sees that they are seated, Aloy urges for her Strider to run.

She doesn’t turn back to look behind her.


	7. Chapter 7

Aloy fidgets with the items in her hands as she stands outside the abandoned house that she left the Alphas in. 

She hears them conversing, more likely, arguing with each other. After having returned to get the things that the Alphas owned and made sure that the hunting party wouldn’t come after them, she came back. Aloy knew that she expected to have a conversation with the Alphas, with a soft warning from GAIA as she returned, telling Aloy that they might have to talk about what happened to the subfunctions. Especially, what Ted has done to APOLLO.

There’s a gentle hum that rings in her ear as her Focus comes online. “Aloy, is everything alright? You haven’t entered the establishment yet.” GAIA asks her, noticing Aloy’s hesitance over entering and facing the Alphas. The Nora girl knows that their worlds will flip upside down once she’s told them of the actions of Ted.

“I have to tell them the truth, don’t I?” She looks at the abandoned house, the fire inside flickering and could barely hear the sounds of their conversation, only a mumble to her ears. 

“It seems so.” GAIA’s voice is gentle. “Sometimes, the truth needs to be told, as harsh as the truth may be. They were going to know sooner or later.” Aloy nods, swallows roughly and strides toward the house. As soon as she enters, the conversation is stopped suddenly and the Alphas look at Aloy. 

“You’re back.” Elisabet stands up from sitting on the ground beside Ayomide. Aloy smiles and gives the Alphas each their own individual items before going to the fire, awkwardly tending to it. She glances at Captain Okilo, who seems as if her wound has already been taking care of, and nods at her. 

“How do you feel?” Aloy asks her but still can’t unnoticed the tension in the air, the silence from the other Alphas. 

“I’ll live,” Captain Okilo cracks a grin at her. “But let me tell you, kid, I’ve never been shot at by an arrow before.” 

Aloy nods, turning back to the fire as she throws a couple of firewood and dry leaves in the fire. A moment of silence goes by, and Aloy tries to ignore it with all her might but she hears someone clear her throat. Aloy turns to look at Elisabet, and by the look on her face, knows that this will be a long night. 

“Aloy,” Elisabet crosses her arms over her chest. “No more beating around the bush, kid. We know that you have been avoiding our questions and GAIA hasn’t answered any of our questions about Zero Dawn. I think it’s time you come clean. We need to know what happened to Zero Dawn, and importantly, the subfunctions.”

Letting out a deep breath, Aloy nods and stands from her crouch position. She turns to look at the Alphas. “Alright, no more hiding. I’ll tell you.” With this, she opens her Focus and retrieves the log transmission of GAIA’s dying plea, she sends it to all the Alphas. Once they had received it, Aloy begins to explain the content of the hologram. 

“Nineteen years ago, GAIA received an unknown signal from unknown origin.” Aloy starts and she could feel her jaw clench. “We don’t know where it came from, but, it was enough to transform the subfunctions into unregulated, self-aware entities. Because of their awakening, the subfunctions had escaped GAIA’s grasp. Thus, HADES was awakened and would begin to take over productions if GAIA hadn’t stepped in to stop him. In order to avoid HADES killing all life on earth, GAIA ordered the core inside GAIA Prime to overload.” A feeling of dread starts to grow inside her, squeezing and tightening as it continues to expand. 

Aloy looks at them and she could see the horror and the worry on their faces, yet GAIA takes over to speak. “In the destruction, the overload of the system’s core had destroyed me as well. But before then, I ordered the ELETHUIA facility to gestate a clone of Elisabet Sobeck. During this process, it had locked me out of all systems within GAIA Prime with the title of OMEGA. The title itself was never installed into any systems of GAIA Prime, it, unfortunately, unseated Alpha Prime and locked me out of every file and database. That is why I did not awaken you all nineteen years ago.” GAIA speaks into their Focuses, her voice is calm but underneath it, she could sense a hint of nerves about the Alphas reactions. “I only had the time to order the facility to gestate a clone of Elisabet, so then, once the child has reached maturity, she would be able to stop HADES eradication of the earth and would be able to re-enter the facilities below, awaken all of you, and reboot me once HADES has been dealt with.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold your horses.” Travis abruptly interrupts, waving his hands as he stands up. “Are you telling me that you killed HADES?” Travis points at Aloy.

She nods. “Yes, I did. At the Battle for the Spire, he would’ve killed us all if I hadn’t.” She crosses her arms over her chest. 

“No, no, _no_. He’s not dead, you just, can’t just kill him that easily. What did you do? Stab him with your spear? It takes more work to kill an AI, HADES isn’t fucking dead.” Travis snaps and starts to pace around the area, his hands on his head as he starts muttering under his breath. 

“Hold on, the subfunctions just left? Like that? They escaped?” Margo stands up from her seat, worry etched into her face. 

“Yes, unfortunately, we are uncertain in their whereabouts, I am not able to locate them yet.” GAIA responds to her. Aloy looks to Margo and frowns, reminding herself of the new machines that HEPHAESTUS threw her way when she traveled north, to the Cut, to the Banuk. The corruption from those machines, fierce, but also nothing Aloy could not handle herself.

“I found HEPHAESTUS but he is an enemy of us. The new machines he has created are stronger than GAIA’s, and since then, have been killing us on sight. The corruption these new machines carry is deadly.” Aloy tells her and Margo frowns deeply.

“But, no, HEPHAESTUS doesn’t just kill people. He’s not supposed to do that. Wha – what made him?” Margo mumbles and buries her face into her hands. 

“But,” Samina interrupts, raising a hand as she looks at Aloy, confused. “I’m sorry but that doesn’t explain APOLLO’s absence if this had only happened nineteen years ago. APOLLO was to begin educating the new generations once they were old enough, why does it still seem like we’re in primitive times? No offense at all, Aloy.” Samina looks at her, and Aloy can see the fear in her eyes. The Alpha is probably thinking the worst right now, fearful that her nightmare would come true. Unfortunately, it has. 

Aloy shakes her head as she looks at Samina. This is the part where she dreads to tell them. With a deep breath, she looks at Samina in the eye. “I am sorry, Samina, but after you were all put to sleep, Ted Faro intervened.” At this, she sends them each the recording of Ted Faro after they were put into cryo-stasis. A hologram of a distributed and distressed Ted Faro appears before them, and the Alphas slowly stand from their seats to watch.

“Alpha Personnel... Sorry to alarm you, but ... I need you to listen, okay? To what I’m about to say.”

She watches the recording again, as Ted Faro tries to explain that giving humanity the knowledge of the past was a mistake, that they were handing their disease to the new generations, and listens as GAIA tries to reason with him, insisting that humanity needs history so they couldn’t make the mistakes from before but even if GAIA tried to stop Ted from eliminating APOLLO, his OMEGA clearance is enough to unseat her. It locked her out of interfering with APOLLO. She sees as the horror, shock, and anger filter through each of the Alphas, but it broke Aloy’s heart as Samina is reduced to tears as he wipes out APOLLO. 

“A sacrifice?” Charles stands quickly, his voice laced with rage as the hologram stops. “It’s not a sacrifice, it’s cultural obliteration, you crazy bastard – millennia of culture –  ” Charles cuts himself off, swearing in a language that Aloy doesn’t understand as he shakes his head. 

Ayomide looks at Samina, concern and repressed rage in her eyes. “Tell us that he’s fucking dead, GAIA, tell us that he’s rotting in his stupid bunker somewhere.” Ayomide grits her teeth together, anger raging in her brown eyes and the woman grips onto the wound on her shoulder. “I’ll kill that motherfucker if he’s still alive with my own bare hands.”

GAIA responds. “According to my data, there is no entry that Ted Faro expired after the event of the hologram.” Unfortunately, even Aloy doesn’t know if this is true. GAIA doesn’t have any records of the bunker where Ted hid inside, his Thebes bunker. Aloy wants to find it, to see if Ted is still alive or not. She wants to see if Ted also slept in those cryo-pods as the Alphas did. 

She figures Elisabet knows where Thebes is.

“No,” Samina mumbles, and Aloy quickly reaches forward as Samina loses her balance, grabbing her arms before she could fall over. Aloy gently settles her down, and the pain she sees in the older woman’s eyes breaks her heart. “All our history – gone. Everything we learned has to be rediscovered again.” Samina’s voice is barely a whisper as Aloy reaches to grab her waterskin, handing it to Samina. The woman refuses, softly pushing it away as she stares at the fire in front of her. “My life’s work, everything we strived toward, everything we have achieved. Gone. Lost. All because of one white man’s decision. Oh, Allah, _forgive them_.” Samina suddenly looks up at Aloy and grabs her hands, the tears roll down her cheeks as she grasps Aloy tightly. “I’m so sorry, I’m so incredibly sorry, Aloy. This isn’t what we wanted for you. I can only imagine the horrors that happened since then. I’m so _sorry_ , child.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Samina. It’s not your fault, it’s only Ted’s fault.” Aloy squeezes her hand and turns to look at the other Alphas, Travis and Charles are arguing, Ayomide comforting Margo as she sits beside her and Elisabet hasn’t moved at all. She hasn’t even said anything at all, but by the blank look on her face, Aloy knows she’s trying to understand everything that’s happening. 

Aloy squeezes Samina’s hand before leaving her to reach Elisabet. “Elisabet,” Aloy says, and Elisabet seems to snap out of the trance she’s in to look at Aloy. 

“Omega clearance,” Elisabet speaks softly, barely audible by the other Alphas arguing with each other. “I’ve never given Ted any clearance, not even Omega. What the _fuck_ is Omega?” Elisabet stares at her and Aloy shrugs her shoulders. 

“I don’t know. Are you okay?” Aloy asks her, wondering if the woman is alright. This is a lot, she is sure, but she doesn’t want the Alphas to lose hope. Maybe there is something out there, some remnants of APOLLO left behind. Maybe all of history isn’t all lost. 

Elisabet plasters on a smile. “Oh, I’ll be fine, Aloy. I just think a nice bottle of whiskey and a cigar would do me just fine now.” Elisabet clasps her shoulder before leaving the house altogether, and Aloy wonders if she should go after her. Her attention is pulled back when Travis also storms out of the house, a string of curse words following him as he leaves, and Charles goes with him. 

“Say, Aloy, do you have any ale on you?” Ayomide asks her from her position on the floor next to Margo. 

Aloy shakes her head. “Sorry, I don’t drink.”

“Got it.” Ayomide whistles lowly before turning to Samina, comforting her friend.

Aloy leaves as well, wanting to see where the Alphas went. They probably wanted some time alone after everything that happened, but Aloy still didn’t want them to stray too far. She finds Elisabet pacing slowly a couple of feet away, her Focus is slowly dimly in the night sky, making Aloy wonder if she’s conversing with GAIA. A couple of feet away, she sees Travis standing by the river, hands on his hips as he stares into it. Aloy finds Charles sitting just outside the abandoned house, sitting against a wall with his head in his hands. 

She should leave them alone, and once they’re ready, answer any questions that they have. 

She decides to go hunting for dinner, telling GAIA to watch over the Alphas while she hunts. 

Aloy is near the river by the abandoned house when GAIA alerts her of Elisabet’s presence. Currently, she’s knee deep inside the river, spear in hand as she waits and watches for any lingering fishes. Samina told her that she doesn’t eat boar, that it was against her religion, so Aloy decided on fish for dinner. Turning her head, she sees Elisabet, a sad soft smile on her face as she waves at Aloy from the grass. 

Aloy nods. “Everything alright?” She calls out to her, lowering her spear for the moment. 

“Yeah, just thinking.” Elisabet answers and settles down on the sand next to the river, taking off her boots and puts her feet into the river. Elisabet then reaches up and takes off her Focus, storing it inside her pocket. Aloy watches and frowns slightly. “Do not worry, Aloy. It’s only for tonight.” Elisabet tells her and Aloy nods, before returning to her hunt. 

She’s caught two fishes before Elisabet has come, and has them in a nest somewhere next to Elisabet. She just wants to catch one more before leaving. The water is clear and reflects the sun’s fading light, and it takes a few more minutes as Aloy slowly walks around and search for a fish until she finally sees one. Quickly, she lets go of the spear it pierces into the body of the fish, Aloy lets out a cry of joy as she grabs her spear and shows Elisabet her catch. 

It’s a big fish.

Elisabet smiles at her. “Nice one, kid.” The woman says and Aloy walks over to the cage, set inside the last of her catch with the other fishes. Next to the cage is her boots, where she left them, and she takes them by the helm before walking toward Elisabet. Quietly, Aloy sits down next to Elisabet and tugs her boots on. It’s not until her boots are on and that Aloy is resting on the grass beside her that Elisabet speaks again.

“Aloy.” The woman says her name, prompting the girl to open her eyes to look at the woman. Elisabet is watching her with a steady gaze but unlike before, her face is open, vulnerable. Not the neutral mask that Aloy has seen her don. “May I ask, what has happened since GAIA’s destruction?” Her voice is soft, and a gentle breeze tickles her skin as Aloy sits up. 

“Well,” Aloy brings her knees to her chest, hugging her legs as she rests her chin atop her arms. “Everything went horrible, after that. The Nora thought that the All-Mother was punishing us in some way. When I was born, the Matriarchs thought I was a curse, a devil child. They thought that I caused the Derangement. It’s the term we used when the machines had gone violent.” Aloy begins, looking over at Elisabet and she nods, listening intently. 

“But, other tribes, like the Carja thought that it was their Sun-God unsatisfied with them. In response to that, the Mad King ordered sacrifices be made in order to appease the Sun-God, but –  ” A soft gasp from Elisabet and Aloy sees the horror in her eyes. She shakes her head quickly. “ –  it wasn’t enough to satisfy the bloodlust of the machines. The Carja raped and pillage the other tribes, as well, taking people and spilling blood. Took them as slaves only to be executed in the Sun-Ring. It was a reign of terror.” Aloy pauses, remembering the somber look on Avad’s face when he spoke of the injustices and atrocities that were made in the Sun-God’s name during the Red Raids. The guilt in his voice, the look of unspeakable loss and heartache as he spoke softly of the accounts of the executions. His own brother’s murder. The hanging of his mother. The execution of loyal friends. 

“That all came to an end three years ago,” Aloy looks at Elisabet and smiles gently. “The Mad King’s eldest son, Kadaman, begged him to stop, but the Mad King struck him down, killing him. His second son, now Sun-King Avad, ran but came back with Ersa, a woman from the Oseram tribe and my friend. They liberated Meridian and the Sundom from the Mad King. Avad killed his own father.” Elisabet closes her eyes briefly and she swallows, but Aloy nudges her softly. Elisabet opens her eyes, and in them, she could see the sadness radiating from her eyes.

“Meridian is a place of safe haven now. Everyone can live there freely, now, with no worries of persecution. That is where we are heading, tomorrow, we will reach Free Heap, and then Meridian. You’ll enjoy it there.” Aloy smiles at her and Elisabet looks at her. “They have ale and they are tinkerers.”

“Oh, thank god.” Elisabet breathes, looking relieved at the prospect that she will drink soon and Aloy giggles softly. “I really need a fucking drink after all of that.”

“We are welcomed there, don’t worry.” Aloy smiles at her before setting to look at the river again. The sun is low over the horizon, barely a glimpse as it almost sets, and Aloy glances up to see the beginning of stars appearing in the sky. 

“But, the Nora, your tribe, that can’t be the only reason why they cast you out? Just because they thought you were a curse?” Elisabet asks her and Aloy turns to look at her, she shakes her head briefly. The girl doesn’t meet her gaze, instead, she just settles to look at the ring on Elisabet’s hand. 

Her voice is quiet, barely audible as she speaks. “They cast me out at birth. Because I had no mother.”

“Oh, Aloy.” Elisabet gasps softly, and Aloy feels her shoulders drop slightly as she turns away from her. “Darling, that wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t in your control. What they did was cruel, that should never happen to a child.” She feels a hand on her shoulder and looks at Elisabet, she squeezes her shoulder softly.

Elisabet’s gaze is gentle, her eyes soft as she looks at Aloy. “Their rules were suffocating,” Aloy says, scoffing as she remembers the rules that Rost told her during her upbringing. “I didn’t agree to it. They could not find enlightenment because they refuse to see past their fears. How were they to move forward if they wouldn’t let anyone question? But it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m not theirs to claim anymore, and they are not mine. How dare they try to reclaim me after finding how useful I become.”

“Aloy.” Elisabet’s voice is soft and she feels another hand grasp her shoulder as well, Elisabet crouches down in front of her. 

“I am not of one of them,” Aloy repeats again. “They might have raised me, but I am not one of their people. I am not theirs after what they have done to me.” The feeling of tears brimming has her close her eyes tightly, not wanting to cry in front of Elisabet, but she feels a hand softly grab her chin and raise her head.

“Sweetheart, look at me, please.” Elisabet tells her and Aloy does as she’s told, and isn’t able to hold the tears back when she sees the empathy and compassion in Elisabet’s eyes. Oh, how she dreams so often of having a mother to care for her and hold her in their arms. But Elisabet isn’t her mother, not technically, so Aloy shouldn’t force that title onto her. For a moment, Aloy could pretend. She could pretend that Elisabet is her mother, and forget that she was birthed from a machine and not of a woman. 

Tenderly, Elisabet quietly tells her. “You are your own person; therefore, you are not entitled to anyone. What they’ve done to you is wrong, and should’ve never happened, Aloy. You were only a child.” Aloy’s shoulders shake with emotion, and slowly, Elisabet leans forward to rest her forehead against Aloy’s. “It is not your fault, my dear. It’s never your fault.”

“I’m sorry for – ” She wanted to apologize for crying, she didn’t want Elisabet to think of her weak. She wants to be seen as strong, but it has been so long that Aloy has repressed these emotions, burying them down in the deepest corners of her mind, only allowing them out in the open when she is alone. Aloy never cried in front of anyone, not even Rost. 

“You have nothing to apologize for.” She shushes her gently, and with a kiss to her head, she mutters quietly. “Do you need a hug, Aloy?”

The girl responds in only turning and lunging at Elisabet. It must’ve caused Elisabet by surprise, not expecting the sudden impact of Aloy throwing herself into Elisabet’s arms, and they tumble back onto the grass. Aloy hears a quiet muffled curse from Elisabet but pays no mind to it, only clutching onto Elisabet’s clothing and holding onto her tightly as she cries into her neck. Elisabet cradles the young girl into her arms gently and presses another kiss to her temple, one hand running through her hair and the other gently rubbing Aloy’s back. 

Aloy closes her eyes, and Elisabet quietly mutters into her ear. “Let it all out, it’s fine. You’ll be alright, kid, I promise.”

 ...

Aloy’s stomach rumbles loudly. 

Elisabet laughs softly, curling a piece of her hair over her ear as she looks down at Aloy. “Someone’s hungry.” The smile on her face is kind, and Aloy pushes her gently before sighing. Some time has passed, Aloy figures over an hour, that Aloy finally settled down after crying her guts out but Elisabet was nothing more than comforting. She guesses that crying takes out a lot of a person. 

They should head back, see how the Alphas are doing, and get started on dinner. She’s hungry, too. Reluctantly, Aloy moves out of Elisabet’s arms and stand up, before reaching down to help Elisabet up. Once the woman is standing, Aloy goes back to retrieve her nest of fishes and walks back to the house with Elisabet, a somewhat comfortable silence hanging between them. 

The Alphas are waiting for them, it seems, but are talking when Aloy and Elisabet enter the house again. 

“There you are,” Margo stands up, looking at them both. “We thought you guys have gotten eaten by a pack of wolves or something.”

“Wolves?” Aloy asks, looking at Margo. Must be another animal of the Old Ones.

“Huh, I thought you guys would have wolves by now.” Margo frowns and Aloy shrugs before setting to start cooking the fishes. As she makes sure that the fishes are overcooked, Travis plops down beside Aloy, and by the look in his eyes, she can see that he hasn’t rested at all.

“Okay, you said you killed HADES, right?” Travis says, leaning forward as he motions to her. She nods, before pointing to her spear. 

“With the Master Override, yeah.” Travis looks at the spear, squints his eyes and looks back at Aloy.

“Okay, right, with Alpha Prime and all that. What’s to say you didn’t actually kill HADES? Let’s say he’s somewhere right now, and we have no idea.” Travis suggests and Aloy stops poking the fishes with her stick before turning to him. 

“It would explain the corruption that all the new machines are having. They’re stronger, deadlier, they would kill anyone. HADES controlled Ted’s machines during the Battle of the Spire and almost destroyed Meridian in the process.” Aloy tells them, and Margo joins them as well, quickly sitting beside Travis.

“But, how could HADES be controlling these new machines without HEPHAESTUS? Maybe, since you said Aloy, that they are your enemies right now, both of them are working together. They couldn’t have gone far without human support in some way.” Margo tells them each and Travis points at her, his eyes widening. 

“See? Vegan knows what’s up.” Travis says, and then Aloy feels a hand on her shoulder, she looks up. Ayomide smiles at them and Aloy helps the captain sit down beside them, the captain squeezes her shoulder briefly before letting go. 

“You say the Battle for the Spire, Aloy. Do you mean one of MINERVA’s broadcast towers? A giant metal tower?” Captain Okilo asks her and Aloy nods, motioning to the Spire that sits in the city of Meridian. They can’t see it now because it’s dark, but whenever Aloy goes, she could always see a glimpse of it. 

“You can’t see it now, but yes. That’s where I killed HADES and sent a signal to all the machines to stand down. It worked. We saved the city and the world.” Aloy tells them, and she quickly looks back at the cooking fishes, smelling something being burnt. Rapidly, she takes out the fishes and curses under her breath for letting them cook for too long. Once she’s cut into the fishes and gave the meat to the Alphas, all of whom seem to come over at once, Aloy digs into her piece. 

“And what of the king, Aloy? How is he?” Samina asks her after finishing her dinner, her waterskin in hand as Aloy looks up at her. She rubs her mouth before answering.

“He’s good, a good man. His name is Avad. He’s listened to me, he will listen to you.” Aloy smiles at the remainder of her friends in the city, she will see them soon after not seeing them for a while. “His captain, Erend, and his mate, Ersa, they’ll listen to you guys as well. They helped me defend the city.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do, guys,” Elisabet says, nodding as she looks at them. “We’ll get the king on our side, but we will not reveal the project of Zero Dawn yet. Telling them that we are Ancient Ones –  ” Aloy corrects her softly, smiling sheepishly. “Old Ones, Elisabet.” Elisabet nods, smiling. “ – right, Old Ones, is no way gonna happen. We keep a low profile, alright? We’ll make up a story along the way, but now it’s too complicated. Maybe later, after we have negotiated an alliance in some way. We take a look at the Spire and decide from there.”

“What about the other subfunctions? Shouldn’t we start searching for them?” Charles asks, wiping his hands on a piece of cloth as he looks at them each, worry in his eyes. “They must be lost out there, with no connection or someone to guide them.”

“We will have to worry about them later, right now, it seems like HADES and HEPHAESTUS are stirring up trouble. If we can locate MINERVA first, then I’m sure we could locate the other subfunctions by then. GAIA is weak without her subfunctions.” Elisabet tells them and Aloy nods, they could do that, she’s sure of it. That’s why GAIA urged Aloy to awake the Alphas first before searching for any signs of the subfunctions, they could find them together. 

“Sounds like a plan, Sobeck,” Ayomide says, smiling as she leans against the wall. 

Aloy gets up to start cleaning their mess, but Samina refuses her to clean. Instead, the woman takes up to cleaning after them and Charles goes to help her, Aloy sits back down. “I’ll take the first watch, then,” Aloy tells them, and Elisabet gives her a blanket before Aloy leaves the house, reminding the girl to be careful. Finding a seat against a tree, Aloy settles down, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders as she looks around. 

It seems like there are no machines in sight, that’s good. She shouldn’t worry for long. Deciding that she has the time now, she should start crafting more arrows. As she takes out the materials to begin crafting, she hears the familiar hum in her ear as her Focus comes online.

“I am proud of you, Aloy,” GAIA tells her and it startles Aloy now, she hasn’t heard anyone other than Rost say anything like that before. Aloy lowers the shaft of her arrow, looking up. 

“You are?” Aloy asks quietly, and as GAIA responds, she could hear the pride and almost a smile in her voice. Aloy couldn’t quite believe it, she always wanted to make GAIA and Elisabet proud. To show that she’s not ruining anything, that she will continue their legacy, to make sure that the earth isn’t destroyed and that peace will be restored. It may not happen anytime soon, but she hopes that things go back to the way they were before the Derangement. 

All she wanted to do was make Elisabet, GAIA, and Rost proud. 

“Of course. You have reached out to the Alphas and told them what has happened since my destruction. With the Alphas help, it will be easier to rebuild my functions and search for the subfunctions. I am sure they are out there. In you, all things are possible.” Aloy smiles to herself at the words of praise, unable to wipe off the smile and shake her head, laughing softly. 

“Thanks, GAIA.”

“You are most welcome, Aloy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!
> 
> sorry for the wait guys, but shit hit the fan after christmas. i've started working and i begin college this week, so i'll probably be busy with that. dunno when updates will be, but i'll try my hardest to write the next chapters cuz i really want the crew to go to meridian because there are people and things waiting for them there :D
> 
> also, i forgot to add, but everything that i write is from memory. my ps4 took a shit and now it won't leave safe mode, so i won't be able to play hzd until i get a new ps4, but it wouldn't matter bc i think i have a bug with the loading screen in hzd and i will forever be stuck in the loading screen. so yeah, lol 
> 
> but happy holidays, you guys! i hope you had a great winter vacation! :D


	8. Chapter 8

“Flame-hair!”

Petra’s booming voice is accompanied by laughter as the woman greets Aloy and the Alphas as they ride into town, some of the Oseram workers gathering around to see them as they enter Free Heap. Aloy grins widely, jumping off her Strider that she shares with Elisabet before walking toward Petra. Just as she remembers the woman, she is covered in snoot, sweat, machine oil, and dirty old rags, there’s a similar grin on her face as she spread opens her arms.

Aloy walks up to her, and Petra lifts an eyebrow before Aloy nods. Laughing, Petra hugs Aloy tightly, lifting the girl a few inches off the ground and Aloy laughs as well, patting Petra’s shoulder gently. “It’s been so long, Flame-hair!” After another twirl, Petra sets Aloy down and grins at her. “How you been? I haven’t seen you since after the Battle for the Spire.”

“Well,” Aloy smiles and turns back to look at the Alphas, just as Elisabet comes to join her, a kind smile on her face. “Look who I found.” Aloy motions to Elisabet.

Petra’s eyes lit up, her grin widening as she gently nudges Aloy’s shoulder. “By the forge, Flame-hair! You found her! You found your mother!” Petra turns to Elisabet, doing a very obvious one look before grinning. “I can see where you get your looks from, Aloy.”

“Dr. Elisabet Sobeck, it’s nice to meet you,” Elisabet smiles easily at her, and Petra grins even more. 

“Petra Forgewoman, I run things around here. Ladies.” Petra nods at the Alphas, winking in particular at Margo and Elisabet chuckles softly as Margo blushes. “Is this what you have been up to, Flame-hair? Finding your mother?” Petra turns to Aloy, and she nods, motioning to the Alphas as they come walking up to them. 

“Yeah, and her people. But we’re back, we’re heading to Meridian soon. Thought I should pay you a visit.” Aloy smiles at her, and Petra nods, turning quickly before whistling loudly. 

“Hey! Jorgriz, get a feast started! We've got guests!” She yells, before turning back to them. “You all look like you need some ale in you, come on. Drinks are on me.” Petra begins leading the way and Aloy easily comes in step with her, nodding to the other settlers who yell out Aloy's name and greet her. 

Margo comes up next to them, grinning widely. “This place is amazing, let me guess, you guys are tinkerers? Inventors, right?” Margo is the happiest Aloy has seen her, since the news of the subfunctions. It makes Aloy glad, she didn’t want the Alphas to be sad, she wanted them to be happy. To enjoy what is here, and experience whatever this new world has to offer. If it means drink and food that would please the Alphas, so be it. 

Petra winks at her. “I didn’t know you got such pretty friends, Flame-hair.” Aloy snorts, rolling her eyes as Petra answers Margo. “Yes, this here is called Free Heap. Free, because we answer to no-one but ourselves, the metal and the dust storms. And the Heap’s back there.” Petra motions to behind them as they walk through the settlement, bounding for the smells of meat being cooked, ale being served, and loud laughter and conversation. “What’s your name?” 

“Margo Shên. I’m an inventor and tinkerer as well. I could give you some pointers if you want.” Margo smiles widely at her, her brown eyes almost sparkling against the lowering sunlight, and Aloy hears behind them a cough from Travis.

“She likes women, too.” Petra’s smile widens as Margo looks back at them, her jaw dropping as she shoots a glare at her friends. And then a sound of a shove and a, “ _Shit_ , what you did that for, cap?” and then a response from the veteran, “Shut _up,_ Tate.” Travis replies, “I’m helping vegan get laid - ” Elisabet interrupts their banter, looking at Petra. 

“What kind of ale do you have, Petra?” Elisabet asks her as they near the dining hall, Aloy opens the doors as Petra steals another look at Margo’s blushing face before answering Elisabet, turning to them. 

“We have Scrappersap, our finest Oseram brew. You’ll love it.”

They enter the place, and already Aloy is greeted by voices arguing, others laughing, or some having a conversation. Most of the Oseram tinkerers have a giant mug in their hands, filled to the brim with ale, and others are eating their dinner. Aloy quickly finds an empty table and rushes for it, not wanting anyone to take their seats. She claims a seat, setting down her bow and spear on the table before leaning back in her chair as the Alphas join her, Petra telling them she’ll come back with their dinner as she heads to the kitchen. Elisabet takes the seat to her right while Samina sits on the left of Aloy. The Alpha has been unusually quiet for the duration of their trip, since the reveal of APOLLO's purgation, but Aloy sees the awe in the older woman’s eyes as she observes their surroundings. 

“This place is awesome, guys.” Margo says as she takes the seat across from them. “Our kind of people, right, Lis?” Margo shoots a smile at Elisabet. 

Elisabet nods, turning to look at her after she looks around. “Our kind of people, Margo. I’d like to take a peak of what’ve they invented. See if they need any help.” Elisabet leans forward, resting her arms on top of the table, she tucks a stranded piece of hair behind her ear to reveal her Focus, touching it once. 

“The Oseram,” Aloy says, nodding to the various people here as she looks at the Alphas. “One of the surrounding tribes, they are mainly known for craftsmanship, their armor, and the weapons they’ve created. Nothing beats Oseram steel.” Aloy tells them, and she hears a clatter as a tray is set down in front of them, mugs filled with ale or water.

“Flame-hair is right,” Petra says, giving them each a mug of ale before giving Aloy a mug of water, Aloy gladly takes it. Samina refuses lightly as Petra sets down a mug of ale in front of her. “Oh, no thank you. Can I have water instead?”

“Sure!” Petra takes the mug of ale away, taking a sip from it before she turns to them. “What do you all want for dinner? We’ve got boar roasting in the back.”

“Anything is fine for us. We’ll try anything you give us.” Charles tells her, nodding at her. Petra leaves them once more and Charles looks at Aloy, a smirk on his lips. “Heavy drinkers, Aloy?”

Aloy nods, laughing softly. “Yeah, big time. They might even challenge you all to a drinking game.”

“Oh, we totally gotta fucking do that, guys. We gotta show them how’s it done. I’m ready to get pissed drunk tonight.” Travis says, before taking his mug of ale and drinking almost half of his ale. He sighs deeply as he sets it down, wiping away foam from his mouth before shooting them a grin. “Not bad, not bad at all.”

“Sure, why not?” Captain Okilo shrugs, bringing the mug closer to her but not taking a sip yet. “I’m sure they’ve never gone into a drinking challenge against a captain of the army.” The veteran grins before taking a swing from the mug. 

“Not me, guys.” Elisabet says, shaking her head as she looks at them. “Not tonight.”

“You can drink if you want, Elisabet.” Aloy tells her, looking at her with soft concern. “If you’re worried about me, I’ll be fine. You should celebrate with them.”

“Yeah, Lizzy! Aloy will be fine! Come on, Nevada, how are you going to say no to a drinking game?” Travis says, looking at her with a smirk. “What are you, scared about losing? Getting your ass kicked?”

“No, guys, not - ” Elisabet is about to say before Petra returns with a tray of food, she sets it down in front of them with a clang. Aloy leans forward, seeing meat, bread, corn, and other vegetables on the plates. She grabs two plates, pulling them over for herself before digging in immediately, taking a bite from the meat as the Alphas try to convince Elisabet to join them. Even Petra joins them, also trying to persuade Elisabet, but their conversation drifts to the Alphas asking Petra all sorts of questions, about the town, what they do, their tribe, and history.

Once Aloy is full and feels like she doesn’t really want to move, she sits back in her chair, sighing happily. It has been a while since she has a good meal that hasn’t been undercooked or overcooked. She listens to the Alphas talk and looks over at Samina, to find that her food has been barely touched at all. The woman is playing with her food, pushing around a potato with her fork, gaze unfocused. 

Aloy looks away momentarily as she hears a scrap of a chair being pushed back. “Alright, let’s see what you guys got.” Petra says, motioning to another table of Oseram workers. She calls out to them, asking if they are up to a drinking challenge against the newcomers, and they all shout their agreements. Travis and Margo follow, standing from their seats as they look back at their friends. 

“Come on, Lizzy. You gotta drink with us.” Travis says, pointing at the group of men and woman, who are all a group of five, including Petra. “They’ve got five people, we got five right here. Mini-Lis and Samina don’t drink, so it’s got to be you.” Travis tells her and Elisabet spares a glance at Aloy’s direction, an unsure glint in her eyes, she hesitates. Her Focus lights up in blue, and Aloy figures GAIA must’ve said something to her ears only.

Aloy nods to her friends, encouraging her to go. Elisabet sighs before nodding, standing up. “Alright, alright. I’ll come.” Aloy smiles as Elisabet points at them, walking around the table. “But don’t let me fucking sing if I get shit faced drunk, okay? I’m not about to embarrass myself in front of everyone." 

“Don’t count on it, Lis.” Charles clasps his hand on Elisabet’s shoulder as they walk over to Petra’s group. Aloy watches as they pull over chairs to sit in front of the group, face to face, as they greet each other. She watches as people notice what’s happening as mugs of ale are set in front of both groups, and quickly, a large crowd forms around them. Aloy isn’t able to see them or hear them over the volume of the place, but she’s pretty sure that there are bets going around and Petra’s voice as she explains the rules of the game.

An Oseram boy walks by their table, shards in his hands as he takes bets from the people, and just as he’s about to leave, Aloy stops him. She raises a hand and he scuffles over, nodding his head. “Savior, you wanna place a bet too?”

“Aloy. But yes,” Aloy reaches down into her pouch, grabbing a couple of shards. “Fifty worth of shards for my friends when they win.” She hands them her shards and he grins widely, nodding his head rapidly. 

“You’ve got a lot of trust in them, say, Aloy?”

“I’m pretty sure they’ll win. They’ve won before.”

“You got it.” The boy leaves, going to take another bet from a man as Petra finishes explaining the rules. The first group to hold their liquor and not vomit all their food, wins. Best of three, it seems. Aloy smiles as she hears the cheers as someone beginning to drink, and then a yell, “Show them how’s it done, Charlie boy!” Among the noise, Aloy turns her attention back to Samina. 

The woman has abandoned her plate of food, resting her arms on the table as she looks at the crowd, a soft smile on her face. Aloy leans over, raising her voice a little to be heard over the sounds of cheers and boos of the crowd. “Are you all right, Samina?”

“Oh,” Samina turns her attention to look at Aloy. The woman raises an eyebrow at her. “What makes you say that, Aloy?”

“You barely touched your food, and you haven’t really spoken at all. Did you not like your food? I could get you something else if you like.” Aloy offers, wondering if it was dinner or something else that has Samina like this. 

“No, that’s fine. It’s just... It’s a lot, Aloy. I’m actually very sad.” Samina confesses, and there’s a bitter smile on her lips as the woman leans forward. Aloy can see that the spark in Samina’s eyes has diminished, ever since seeing the new world and learning about APOLLO’s fate. Aloy’s sure, if there were any trace left of APOLLO, she would find it, no matter how far or how long the journey would be. 

“Oh. Well, I’m here to talk, if you want.” Aloy suggests, and she could hear another round of cheers. Supposedly, Petra’s team has won, and she could hear the sounds of someone vomiting.  

“After learning about APOLLO’s death, I’ve been thinking a lot about history. Everything we have lost. And now, seeing this new world, a new age of people, of different tribes, and their cultures. It’s fascinating, Aloy, all of it. It amazes me to no end how you all could establish yourselves in this world, with no recollection of the past.” Samina tells her and Aloy could see the beginning of tears brim in her eyes. Aloy shuffles over her mug of water, offering it to the woman. 

“My hope, _our_ hope, was that the new generations wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of our past. Slavery, mass genocide, extinction of precious animals, our ignorance of climate change, our battles, our suffering. You would never hear of the people that made things possible for us or made how we were today, and when I mean today, I meant our world.” The woman’s voice is soft as she speaks, and she wipes away her tears as she looks at Aloy. 

“I’m sorry,” Aloy couldn’t know what else to say. It is Ted’s fault that they are how they are, with no history of the Old Ones. 

“No, don’t be sorry. I’m very grateful that there is still regardless generations here. I can’t wait to learn and study your culture, your tribes, and history. Even if I suspect it to not all be good, I do know that history will always repeat itself, no matter what. Good always won, in our world, and we always tried to fight the evil, to scout out the corrupt.” Samina tells her and Aloy leans forward to lean against the table. 

“If it matters to you, once we reach Meridian, I’ll introduce you all to the king. He has records of his people’s history, I’m sure he would allow you to see them.” Aloy says, and the woman smiles and reaches over, squeezing Aloy’s hands softly. 

“Thank you, it would make me very happy,” Samina says, and Aloy nods, the woman lets go of her hands and Aloy takes a grab of her mug. She empties whatever is left from her mug before setting it down, but it seems Samina hasn’t let go of this conversation yet, as she still has her eyes on Aloy. 

“History has its eyes on you, Aloy.” The pride in her voice makes Aloy smile a little, albeit a little nervous at the words. “I’m sure your name would be remembered for centuries to come, and your story will be a beacon of hope for the world. But remember, in all that glory, one thing: remember to never lose it. You can’t _lose_ it. It has weakened our warriors, and sometimes, caused their death.”

“Thank you.” Aloy’s voice is quiet and Samina nods, turning back to the crowd as another round of cheers erupt. Aloy has no idea who is winning so far, but she could hear the Alphas chanting, “Chug, chug, chug, chug!” and then another erupt of cheers and laughter. Sitting back against her chair, Aloy mulls over Samina’s words. 

She knows that GAIA had made Aloy for this, to save the world from extinction. From death. After doing what she was made to do, she felt lost. Even if she was surrounded by her friends in Meridian, loneliness still accompanied her. Unable to find a tether to the world. Elisabet was gone, and so was GAIA. Unless she has somehow brought them back. Then, she remembered the holos and went back to GAIA Prime, hoping that the Alphas were still alive. 

She realizes that her story has already been written. In the scrolls underneath the Palace of the Sun, whispers about the Nora savage who can tame machines at a glance, in the mountains of the Banuk, a painting of the Savior, or in the praises of the Nora for the Anointed. Aloy knows that she is known by the tribes, and most likely will continue to be, but she doesn’t like it. This attention to her. She hates the praise. A fascination with her, she can hear the rumors. Some say she is a demi-god, inhuman, or had come from the Old Ones. 

No matter what, her destiny lies within the earth, with GAIA, and the Old Ones. Her fate might be that she dies young, she always thought she wouldn’t survive the Battle for the Spire, she was sure of it, but the Shield-Weaver had taken the brunt of the force. She has no idea why she has been kept alive, maybe fate wills it so. 

Aloy is brought out of her thoughts when she hears yelling. “F-Fucking showed you! That’s our motherfucking tea-team captain right here! Fuck yeah Lizzy!” Travis shouts, and Aloy sits up, blinking rapidly as there is a course of cheers and awws. Aloy watches as the Alphas stumble back to the table, Samina laughing beside her, as they trip and hold onto each other for leverage. Aloy gets up, sees the wide grin on Elisabet’s face and walks over, helping the woman sit down on the table. 

“You guys look like crap,” Samina laughs lightly, as Petra comes over, helping Margo sit down on the chair. “Petra, could you get them water and bread, if you have any?” Samina asks her, Petra responds with yelling at someone to bring them water and bread. Elisabet looks up at Aloy, she could smell the ale in her breath as Elisabet laughs.

“Aloy, hey! I’m fucking drunk.” Elisabet giggles, swirls her words together and leans heavily on Aloy’s shoulder. Aloy drags her chair beside Elisabet, not wanting for the woman to lose her balance and fall off the chair. A tray of bread and water is set down in front of them, Aloy takes a piece of bread and gives it to Elisabet. 

She squints, before taking the bread from her. “Bread. Bread’s good.” Elisabet takes a bite and Aloy looks at the Alphas, to see Charles sitting with his head in his hands on the table, groaning. Margo is passed out in her chair, and Travis is actually nursing another drink of ale. Out of all of them, Ayomide seems to be the one that isn’t as drunk as the rest of them. She’s smiling as she holds a mug of water in her hands. The Alphas eat as much as they could from the bread, and after they drink their water, Aloy decides that she should bring Elisabet to bed. Just before they leave, the Oseram boy from before comes walking up to them, a pouch of shards in his hands. 

“Aloy, you won! Here’s your shards.” The boy says, pushing the pouch in Aloy’s hands and she nods. “Everyone else didn’t think they had it in them, but you did. Congrats!” Aloy smiles at him. 

“Guess I had a feeling.” She watches as the boy leaves, joining his friends on the other side of the room. Aloy turns her attention back to Elisabet, she’ll divide the shards tomorrow, give them to the Alphas once they are sober. 

“We should get them to bed. They’re going to have a nasty hangover in the morning.” Samina taps her on the shoulder and Aloy nods. Carefully, Aloy helps Elisabet up, pulling the woman’s arm over her shoulders and wrapping her own arm around her waist. 

“We’re leaving? _No_. I want to stay.” Elisabet pleads with her and Aloy shakes her head, laughing softly. 

“You need to sleep, Elisabet,” Aloy tells her, and she’s grateful as a few friends from Petra helps the Alphas up and Petra leads them to their rooms for the night. Aloy makes sure that the Alphas are rooming together somehow, with Travis and Charles collapsing into two beds, then Margo with Ayomide and Samina, and finally a room for Elisabet and Aloy. Elisabet is singing loudly beside her, the words incoherent as they walk through the streets, Aloy almost dragging Elisabet with her as she follows Petra. 

“This is your room for the night,” Petra swings open the door, and Aloy nods as she looks inside. A single bed, enough to fill a Nora family, and on the corners hugging the walls are a table, with some fresh fruit and water. 

“Thanks, Petra.” Aloy tells her as she helps Elisabet down on the bed. 

“ _Mama_ , _oh-oh, I don’t want to die, sometimes wish I’d never been born at all_!” Elisabet sings loudly as she laughs, lying down on the bed. Aloy shakes her head, walking over to the door as Petra leans against the doorframe. Aloy raises her eyebrows. 

“So, Margo, does she have a mate?”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on, Aloy, help me out here.”

“I don’t know Petra, just ask her. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Aloy shuts the door and she rolls her eyes as she could hear Petra’s laugh from the other side of the door. She turns around, wondering why Elisabet had fallen quiet, only to see her snoring softly and drooling on the bed. Aloy walks over, taking off her boots and her pouches, setting them aside before helping Elisabet under the covers. 

Aloy quickly takes a bath and changes into her undergarments, yawning as she crawls under the covers next to Elisabet. She looks up at the ceiling, and her Focus comes online. “I wish you a pleasant sleep, Aloy.” GAIA tells her, voice quiet. 

Aloy smiles as she reaches up to grab ahold of her Focus. “Thanks, GAIA. Good night.” Taking off her Focus, she sets it down on the nightstand beside the bed and closes her eyes, getting comfortable. 

And just before she drifts off to sleep, she feels an arm thrown over her stomach and Elisabet dragging her over. “Get over here, kiddo.” Elisabet mumbles quietly, and Aloy smiles widely. Aloy returns the hug, nestling under Elisabet’s neck and pull the covers over them. Elisabet kisses the top of Aloy’s head and sighs quietly, resting her chin above Aloy’s head. 

“G’night, Aloy.”

“Night, Elisabet.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!
> 
> i lived bitch xD
> 
> long time no see, i guess? i know it's been a while but things got pretty busy in the last month, college has been keeping me busy but at least one of my online classes is coming to a close soon but anyways happy second hzd anniversary!

Aloy smiles as Elisabet drags herself out of bed, groaning lightly as she massages her head. 

Aloy walks over to her, a cup of water in one hand and a potion for the hangover from Petra. “Here, drink this, Elisabet.” Aloy crouches down in front of Elisabet as the older woman sits up in the bed, rubbing her temples as she keeps her eyes closed. The girl waits until Elisabet opens her eyes. 

“I don’t suppose you have any aspirin? Because I have a fucking headache.” Elisabet asks her and Aloy shakes her head, she doesn’t know what aspirin is but it may have to do with last night drinking. Giving her the water and the potion, Elisabet takes it with one swing before giving the cup back. Elisabet gives her a soft smile and ruffles Aloy’s hair, making the girl smile as well. 

“I had a good time last night, sorry if I caused any trouble,” Elisabet tells her and Aloy shakes her head, standing up and putting the cup on the table. She grabs her gear and looks at Elisabet, wondering what they should do. Aloy already went to go see how the other Alphas were doing, most of them in the similar state as Elisabet and had already joined Petra for breakfast. 

“No, you were fine, although you did sing on the way back.” Aloy grins at her and Elisabet groans, shaking her head as she stands up. 

“Damn it, I always sing when I get drunk,” Elisabet says, before changing into her clothes from yesterday before following Aloy out the door. 

“Are you hungry?” Aloy asks her as they leave the room, walking down the stairs as Aloy looks behind her. She can already hear the shouts of working Oseram tinkers, or the screeching sound or the pounding sound of them making inventions. The sun is high in the sky, the weather a bit chilly as they walk through town, back to the eating hall.

“Starving.” Elisabet grins as she follows Aloy. 

They find the Alphas in the dining hall, sitting around a table with plates of breakfast and some of them nursing a cup of tea. Aloy walks toward them, Elisabet behind her. 

“Hello,” Aloy greets them, smiling as she takes a seat beside Travis, who looks like he woke up sick. She gently nudges him on the shoulder as he leans his head against the table, one of his fingers running the rim of his cup. “How do you feel, Travis?”

“Eh, hey mini-Lis,” Travis mumbles, using his other hand to rub his eyes. “That tea Petra gave us helped a lot, I don’t feel as much as a piece of shit than I did when I threw up on Charlie boy.”

“That was disgusting, Travis,” Charles says, scowling as he shoots a glare at him as he picks up his mug, while Elisabet greets her friends and sits down next to Aloy. “I can’t believe you did that."

“Sorry, man, but I woke up vomiting.” Travis shrugs, and Charles sighs as he rolls his eyes. While Elisabet orders for breakfast, Aloy sees as Petra enters the hall and walk over to them. The inventor smiles at them and even throws a wink in Margo’s direction. 

“Morning, everyone.” Petra greets them and nods at Aloy, “Flame-hair.”

Aloy nods at her as she takes the empty seat beside Margo. The Alphas greet her, and then a conversation grows as they ask Petra about her tribe. As they speak, Elisabet offers Aloy a piece of bread, which Aloy gladly takes and munches on as they speak. They’re in the middle of a conversation when Petra sits up, stopping herself mid-sentence. “ - in the Oseram, women are property, that’s why - _oh_ , fire and spit, Aloy!”

Aloy looks up at her, eyebrows raising slightly as Petra leans against the table, the woman looks at her. “That reminds me, there are letters for you.” The woman reaches into one of her pouches, before taking out two rough up scrolls, she sets them on the table in front of Aloy. Pushing the bread to one side of her mouth, Aloy looks up at Petra.

“From who?” She asks her, wiping her hands from crumbs before reaching for the scrolls. 

“The Sun-King and Queen-consort, seems like an urgent business. They’ve sent these letters, from what I heard, to every neighboring tribe. They’ve been wanting to get in contact with you.” Petra tells them and Aloy grabs the first scroll, unwrapping the bow around it before looking at the contents.

“Every tribe?” Aloy asks, reading the first sentence. 

_Dear Aloy, I have wished that I would be writing to you under better circumstances._

“Yeah, the Oseram, the Nora, the Banuk. They’ve even sent scouts out for you.” Petra tells her and Aloy sits back, holding the scroll in her hands. 

“Why would they be looking for Aloy?” Captain Okilo asks, and Aloy looks up at Petra. 

Petra whistles lightly. “Since you left after the battle to look for your mother, Flame-hair, strange things have been happening. Rumors of kidnappings up north, the machines have grown stronger, and talks of a god too. It’s all just rumors if you ask me,” Petra shrugs and Aloy narrows her eyes before quickly going back to the letter. 

_I wish you have found your mother, Aloy, and in it, solace and happiness._

_It has been a period of six months since the Battle of the Spire, and since then, things have not gone back to the way they should have been. Ever since you have gone on your journey, I have received word from the Claim that young girls, of your age and with similar red hair, have been kidnapped in the dead of the night. Three girls, unfortunately, have not returned as of yet. We fear that the girls may have been killed. On another topic, we also heard rumors of a man being resurrected to the Forbidden West, but I do believe it is not true. We’ve also received word from the Utaru, of strange fights against warriors from the Forbidden West, with weapons that could kill you before you can take out your own sword. No word from the_ Tenakth _of yet, but this is worrying enough as it is._

_Aloy, if this letter reaches you, please return promptly to Meridian. We need your help, and if you choose to return with your mother, we will provide room for the both of you, no need to worry._

_We miss you, Aloy, and wherever you are, we hope that you are safe under the Sun’s light. May the Sun protect you from the shadows._

_Sun-King Avad._

Aloy sits up and looks at Petra, frowning. Petra looks at her, a patient look on her face. “This doesn’t make sense,” she mutters before setting down the scroll from Avad, and then reaches for the next scroll. She unwraps it and begins to read. 

_Aloy, it’s Ersa._

_Now, you know I don’t like asking for help, but we do need your help. The citizens of Meridian are growing nervous with these talks, and even if I think some of them are scums nobles, they are still the people Avad and I vowed to protect. It has been a month since Avad has sent his letter, and we haven’t heard any news from you. You better be alive, or I’ll come to find you myself._

_And if you are, great, because there’s a man here in Merdiain, an old adviser from the Mad King’s reign, he’s asking around for you. I don’t like him, he was a traitor to the throne and rather kept shards in his pockets than help saved the Sundom. He’s an ass, really._

_But, more importantly, a young woman was raped and murdered just two days ago, similar to your description. After her killing, we found her_ _hanging from a bridge in the markets. Her mother was killed as well, we found her body in the river. Strangely, both father and son are alive._

_The murderer was nowhere to be found, no traces, no anything. He just disappeared. It makes no damn sense._

_But we did find evidence, a strange metal shape, the size of your thumb. You might understand what it is. It was inside her body. That’s might have been what have killed her._

_Another thing, there’s a bounty on your head, Aloy. Be careful. There’s a lot of shards on the table for you, we can protect you here if you come back to Meridian. I hope you’re safe and alive, you promised me you’ll take me up for a sparing session, remember?_

_Goodbye, Aloy._

_(Erend misses you, come back. He’s driving me insane.)_

_Ersa._

Aloy stands up suddenly, she presses her hands against the table and looks at Petra. “I need to speak to you, Petra.” The woman nods, standing up as well as Aloy grabs the scrolls, roll them back up and shove them into one of her pouches. Aloy looks at Elisabet, to see the worry in her face, and tells her. “I’ll come back.”

Aloy follows Petra outside of Free Heap, the woman singing a tune under her breath as they walk far enough from the town, away from any lingering ears or nosey people. Once they reach a tree beside the river, the branches hanging low, and Petra sits down, sitting against the bark of the tree as Aloy paces in front of her.

“I don’t understand,” Aloy says, running a hand through her hair before looking at Petra. “this wasn’t supposed to happen. Everything should’ve gone back to normal.”

“Well, Flame-hair, better believe it. We need you, we need the Savior back.” Petra says and Aloy stops, whipping around to look at her, gritting her teeth. 

“Don’t call me that.” She snaps, and Petra raises her brows.

“What? It’s true,” Petra crosses her arms over her chest.

“Still, I don’t like it. I’m Aloy, and that’s it.” Aloy balls her hands into fists, shaking her head as she resumes her pacing. “That’s why they want me back, to use me, make me fix all their problems. I don’t want this anymore, this fighting, having a target on my back.”

“Look, flame-hair, ever since you came in, we knew you are important. This is how life is, and even if we don’t know why you are being targeted, there are still innocent girls out there being killed, maybe just because they look like you. Yes, you’re good at tracking and investigating, but we also like you, Aloy. You’re a good person to spend time with.” Petra smiles at her lightly, and Aloy shrugs her shoulders. 

“You’re just saying that so I can go to bed with you.” Aloy narrows her eyes at the woman, and she watches as the smile widens, a mischevious glint in Petra’s eyes. 

“Maybe, maybe not. Flame-hair, it’s your choice if you do.”

“Please, I’m not looking for a mate.”

“And that’s fine, but it’s true what I’m saying. Meridian needs you, and so do those girls, they need justice. Their families need peace, and you can give them that.” Petra pushes herself up, standing and holding onto the tree bark as she does so. She turns to Aloy, her brown eyes soft in the sunlight. 

“I’m not worried about myself, I can handle myself in a fight. But them, I’m worried about.” Aloy admits, wrapping her arms around herself as she thinks about Elisabet and the Alphas, what if they get caught in this with her? Aloy could never forgive herself if one of them manage to get hurt in a fight, or worse, killed. They’re her responsibility now, she wants them to live freely, with no worries at all, but with all the news she is receiving, it doesn’t seem like everything will be alright soon. 

“Your mother? And her friends? I’m sure they’ll be fine.” Petra says and Aloy shakes her head, she looks at Petra. 

“What you said, that I’m important, they’re important too, I even say more important than me. If anything happens to them, Petra, it’ll be on me. And I can’t let that happen. I just got them.” Aloy’s voice as she speaks gets lower, and it’s nothing more than a whisper as she points back to Free Heap, where the Alphas are now. Aloy then points at herself. “Nothing can happen to them, and if something did, then they’ll feel my _wrath_.”

An almost quiet look of surprise registers on Petra’s face, and then the woman smiles slightly. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen you get angry, Flame-hair.”

Aloy scoffs, smiling a little. “Oh, it’s a sight to see, Petra.”

Petra nods, her smile growing as a few moments pass before she speaks again. “I can have a few people go with you to Meridian, Flame-hair. Say the word and you got it. After what you’ve done, it’s on the house.”

Aloy nods, looking at Petra. “Thanks, but I think we will leave tomorrow morning. I need to gather supplies for the trip.”

“Whatever you need, Flame-hair.” Petra claps her shoulder and they begin walking back to Free Heap. “Are you sure Margo doesn’t have a mate?”

Aloy groans loudly. “Petra, ask her! Don’t ask me! I don’t know!”

“Alright, alright.”

“Thank you.”

“What about your mother? Does she - ”

“Don’t even _think_ about it.”

...

Aloy sharpens her knife, focusing on sharping the shaft as she listens to the Alphas talk and laughs. They’re currently in Petra’s workshop, Margo helping with Petra’s cannon as the Alphas lounge around when GAIA greets her through the Focus. 

“Aloy, may I speak with you privately?” She asks her and Aloy looks up at the Alphas, before nodding. Storing her knife away, she stands and glances at Elisabet before heading to the door. She quickly slips out of the workshop, climbing the steps to the roof, taking a seat top of the fence. Letting her feet dangle, she folds her hands in her lap as she looks down, she watches as various tinkerers come and go, doing their daily routines. 

“Everything alright, GAIA?” Aloy asks her, keeping her voice soft. 

“I had wished to know why you haven’t told the Alphas yet of these letters. Do you wish to keep this a secret from them?” GAIA asks her, and her voice is as calm and gentle as ever. But Aloy knows why she’s asking, she knows that GAIA also worries, and must’ve had also read the contents of her letters. She doesn’t know whether to be offended or not. 

“No, at least not yet. I don’t want them to worry any further.” Aloy tucks a strand of her braids behind one ear, kicking her legs as she looks at the setting sun in the horizon. 

“Of course, but I’m sure they do not like being kept in the dark, Aloy.” GAIA tells her and Aloy nods, sighing deeply.

“No, not for long.” She shifts on the ledge, grabbing a hold of the fence as she leans back a little. “I don’t want them to worry about any killings, not unless it involves them somehow. I should bring them to Meridian as soon as possible, it will be safe there for them.”

“You worry for their safety, Aloy?” GAIA asks her gently. 

“Yes,” Aloy hangs her head, closing her eyes. “They’re Old Ones, what if someone finds out about them and would want to harm them? It seems like someone’s out there, hunting for me again.”

“And if someone is out there trying to harm them, then we can deal with them. Remember, Aloy, you are not alone anymore. You have friends, and you have me.” GAIA tells her gently and it makes Aloy smile a little, she opens her eyes and looks up at the sky. 

“You’re right, I have friends in Meridian. Besides, the king and queen need me back,” Aloy thinks about all the friends she left behind in Meridian, has not left any kind of message behind after the Battle for the Spire to search for the Alphas. It has been months since she has last seen them, and to be quite honest, she misses her friends. 

“Will you travel tomorrow to Meridian?” GAIA asks her and she nods.

“Yes, can you let the Alphas know?”

“Certainly, Aloy.”

A silence falls over them as Aloy enjoys the night air, swinging her legs as she sits and looks over Free Heap. She hears footsteps and GAIA voice returns once again, saying, “Elisabet approaches.” Turning her head, she watches as Elisabet joins her, a smile on her face. 

“Hey kiddo, we’re heading out tomorrow?” Elisabet asks her and Aloy nods, watching as Elisabet comes to stand beside Aloy, resting her arms on the fence as she looks up at Aloy. 

“Yeah, the king and queen need to see me. They need my help for something, hope you don’t mind leaving so soon.” Aloy looks at her, leaning back a little. 

Elisabet shakes her head, the smile widening on her lips. “No, no, although Margo might have something to say about it. Seems like her and Petra were getting cozy.” Elisabet laughs, grinning. 

Aloy smiles as well. “Petra kept asking me about her.” Aloy rolls her eyes, remembering all the times Petra kept pestering her, trying to get answers out of Aloy about Margo. 

“Oh, I’m sure she is. Hope we can come back here soon, I like these guys.” Elisabet says, looking at Aloy with a grin. 

“They’re good people.” Aloy looks back to the town and Elisabet hums lightly. She reminds herself of the letters that Avad and Ersa sent her, all of the killings in the recent months, and the recent murder of the young woman. She looks back at Elisabet and frowns slightly. 

“Hey, can I see your gun?” Aloy asks her and Elisabet looks at her, raises an eyebrow before nodding. She reaches over and unholsters her gun before handing it over to Aloy. Grabbing it from her, she unloads the gun as Ayomide taught her, before taking a bullet and holding it up to look at it. This bullet might be the same thing that Ersa was talking about in her letter. This worries her even more, she’s only seen the Alphas carry these weapons, not other tribes or people. What if these guns fall into the wrong hands?

Quietly, Aloy loads the gun again before handing it back to Elisabet. 

“Everything alright?” Elisabet takes the gun back and puts it away. She looks at Aloy with soft concern in her eyes. 

Aloy plasters on a smile but doesn’t look at her in the eye. “Yeah, everything’s good.” She feels her shoulders drop as if the weight of the world is on her shoulders once more. 

“Aloy, can you promise me that you’ll be honest with me from now on?” Elisabet asks her and Aloy quickly looks at her, eyebrows raising and her eyes going wide. How did she find out? “I know you’re lying, you looked away from me. I used to do the same too.”

Aloy sighs, before looking at her. She stays silent. Elisabet reaches up to grab her arm and squeezes lightly. “If it threatens us in any way, I want you to tell us. Don’t beat around the bush. I just want us to all be safe. Could you do that for me, Aloy?”

“Alright.”

“Thanks, kid.”


	10. Chapter 10

“How much longer?”

Aloy looks back at Travis, grinning at him as she holds onto the reins loosely. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there. Just around the corner.” She assures him because they are nearing Merdian. They have been traveling all morning, and would just reach Meridian when the sun has reached its highest point in the sky. Aloy was careful in guiding the Alphas, making sure to stick to the path and to the guards that were stationed along the route. 

She kept the Alphas far away from the machines, but it didn’t stop them from looking at the different machines they’ve come across with astonishment. Margo is proud, asking all sorts of questions to GAIA about the machines, and sometimes ask Aloy if she’s fought the machines, which she has. She doesn’t mention fighting a Thunderjaw or, Redmaw with Talanah. Aloy is sure that the Alphas would find that story impressive. 

Aloy isn’t so sure that Elisabet would wanna hear that story. 

She doesn’t want the older woman to worry. 

“Aloy, where would we be - ” Elisabet begins to ask just as they rounded the rock, and then Meridian comes into view. It’s tall buildings rising high to the sky, the elevators clinging onto the city, and then the Sun-palace sitting atop its own cliff. Elisabet gasps and Aloy lightly taps the Strider to stop, and the machine does so. She smiles as she looks over her shoulders to see the Alphas’s reactions. 

“Holy fuck!” Travis shouts, his eyes wide as he points to the city. He whistles. “I’ll be fucking damned, you guys did it.”

“Absolutely incredible,” Samina says, coming to a rest beside Aloy. “It’s beautiful.”

“The home of the Carja. This was where the Battle of the Spire took place.” Aloy tells them, and she looks over at the city, smiling softly. She’ll be seeing her friends soon. As she looks over the city, she sees the remnants of the damage that took place when the fight had ended. The Deathbringers in the field couldn’t have been moved, so they will stay there, dead. Most of the damage that had hit the city has been recovered, by the looks of it, and she could see that a few houses were being reconstructed again. 

“Look how far you guys have come, I’m impressed,” Charles says from behind Samina, smiling widely. 

“Come on,” Aloy motions to the city with a nod, before tapping her Strider again, the machine starts walking. “I’m sure you guys will love it once we get inside the city.” Once they have reached the outskirts of the city, where a market is set up, and people are milling about, shouts and conversation fill the air, children laughing and squealing, and the smells of fresh food reach them. Aloy hops off her Strider, before helping Elisabet down. She moves toward her Strider, and gently lays a hand on its head, bending down slightly to look at its bright blue eye. 

“Thank you for taking us here. You’re free to leave.” She tells the machine, and it whirs, pushing slightly against its hand. She chuckles and smiles before ushering it to the fields of grass with the other Striders after everyone has collected their belongings. Aloy turns to the Alphas, and motions to the marketplace with her hands. 

“Stay close to me, it’s a big city. Don’t want any of you to get lost.” She tells them and they nod before following Aloy to the marketplace. Just as she’s beginning to walk up with them, a few heads begin to turn and notice the presence of the newcomers, but especially Aloy. 

Aloy grimaces as they begin to whisper, almost bracing herself for it. “It’s the Savior!”

“Look, mama, it’s the Savior!”

“The Nora girl has returned!”

She doesn’t mind their comments, but she could feel their eyes on her as the crowd almost opens for her, creating a path for her and the Alphas to walk. She checks over her shoulder, only to find Elisabet looking at her, an eyebrow raised but a smile. Aloy turns back and quickly ushers the Alphas to the city. 

The city is bustling and full, with street vendors trying to sell their products and Aloy has to stop every once in a while because something has caught the attention of the Alphas. She doesn’t mind their curiosity or their excitement, it makes her happy, and they have no reason to rush. They’re in Meridian, a place where the Alphas can be safe, under the watchful eye of the crown. 

Aloy looks back, only to find Margo and Samina standing next to a food stand, grapes in their hands. She walks up to them as they take bites of the fruit, and smiles as they laugh. Looking toward the vendor, she tips them the shards, thanking them. 

“Guys, here, they have grapes!” Margo says, giving each of them a couple of grapes, Aloy gladly takes one and pops it into her mouth. She munches on it as she looks over, to find that a trio of Carja soldiers is walking toward them. Aloy meets them halfway, nodding. 

“Savior, we didn’t expect your presence so soon. Please, we’ll escort you to the pala - ” Aloy holds up her hand as one of the soldiers begin to speak. 

“It’s fine, you don’t need to escort us. They are with me. We will meet with the Sunking and Queen, friends of mine.” Aloy tells them, looking back to the Alphas and they walk up. “We’ll be on our way.”

The soldiers salute her and she nods, they step aside before letting them continue. Aloy guides them through the city, toward the Sun-Palace, and it takes them a little longer as the Alphas sometimes stop and stare, pointing out something interesting. 

Elisabet chuckles beside her. “We must be looking a lot like tourists, huh?” She’s smiling, her eyes vibrant with a glint of happiness. 

“Yeah,” Aloy smiles, and they start walking towards the bridge leading to the palace. The guards stationed their salute Aloy once they see her, and after confirming that the Alphas are with her, they let them through. 

Elisabet whistles lowly. “That’s a palace?”

“Home of the Sunking and Queen-consort, it’s where we will be staying.” She tells her and Elisabet’s eyes widen, she laughs a little. 

“No shit, really?”

“Yeah.”

“Fucking amazing.”

Once they have reached the steps to the palace, Aloy is amused to find that an out of breath Marad meets them at the top of the stairs, he straightens once he has seen them and gives a slight bow of his head toward Aloy. “Aloy, welcome back.”

Aloy nods, smiling. “It’s good to be back.” Aloy then turns toward the Alphas. “Marad, this is my mother and our friends.” She motions toward Elisabet. 

“Dr. Elisabet Sobeck.” Elisabet introduces herself and Marad bows to her, a tight-lipped smile on his lips as he regards her. “But, Elisabet is fine.”

“As you wish. It is a pleasure to meet the mother of the Savior, of course. You’ll be handled with the utmost care here. And your companions?” Marad turns to the Alphas, and after introductions and formalities are finished, Aloy walks with Marad inside the palace.

“Where’s Avad and Ersa?” Aloy asks him as he guides them inside.

“On the palace training grounds, debating the policies of our rice market.” He tells her and she raises a brow, grinning. 

“Take us there, I would want to see them.” She tells her and he nods. They are lead to the training grounds, behind the palace, and there is a group of guards surrounding the perimeter of the training grounds, a few servants walk around, doing their daily chores. Each of them acknowledges Aloy in some sort of way, with either a bow or a salute. Taken to a balcony overlooking the training grounds, Aloy leans against the fence as she looks down, smiling when she saw her friends. The Alphas join them, Marad content to standing beside her with his arms behind his back, an emotionless face. 

She hears the sounds of grunting and talking, of swords hitting armor, and she watches as Avad and Ersa dance around each other, a sword in a hand, as they parry and block. She could hear them talking, but from this distance, can’t make out the words. 

Ersa is grinning, dogging any of Avad’s advances, blocking his sword and pushing it away. She looks better than she last saw her, healthy, her hair has grown a little, enough to be a small truffle on the head. Her ribs don’t poke out anymore, but instead, muscle is there, and her skin is not as pale as it was when Aloy had first found her. She’s healthy and strong. 

“Who do you think is gonna win?” Aloy asks Marad. 

“The Queen.” He almost laughs.

Aloy nods. “Ersa’s gonna beat him, she always does.” She watches as they continue to fight a little more, before finally, Ersa knocks the sword right out of Avad’s hand, sending it flying a few feet away and clattering against the ground, before swiping a leg under Avad’s feet, knocking him toward the ground. The king lands on his side with a grunt, before laughing, turning to look up at Ersa as she stands over him. She edges the tip of her sword close to his neck, a smirk on her face as she looks down at him, and she holds it there for a second as they both stare at each other, and mutters something before throwing the sword away. She leans down, grabs the collar of his shirt, and pulls him up for a kiss.

Aloy rolls her eyes. 

“That’s the Queen-consort and King?” Ayomide asks from next to him, and Aloy nods. 

“Yeah, that’s them. They took back the city.” Aloy pushes herself off of the fence, reaching for an arrow and her bow and sees the look on Marad’s face. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hit them. Just want to let them know that I’m here.” He nods, frowning only slightly as she nocks the arrow into her bow, and aims it toward the ground beside Avad’s head, both of them distracted with their kiss. 

She lets the arrow fly, grinning as it hits the ground, next to Avad’s head. Lowering the bow, both of them gasp and break up, to look up at the person who just shot at them. Once they see who it is, wide smiles break out on their faces. 

“Aloy!” They both shout, and Aloy puts her bow back in place, Ersa shoves Avad to the ground before standing and rushing toward her. Aloy hops over the balcony, it was only a few feet, no harm, and walks to meet Ersa. The woman quickly engulfs Aloy in a tight hug, laughing loudly as she lifts Aloy off the ground, and Aloy grins, returning the hug. 

“You’ve returned! Finally, I was wondering if we should’ve sent out a scout team for you. You never write us back.” Ersa sets Aloy down gently on the ground again, gently punching her in the shoulder. 

“Sorry, I was busy.” She turns back, seeing that Marad and the Alphas are walking toward them. “Look who I found.” She grins at Elisabet. 

“By the Forge, you actually found your mother!” Ersa lets go of Aloy’s arm before moving toward Elisabet, also engulfing her in a hug. The look on Elisabet’s face makes Aloy laugh, but she stops when she feels a hand on her shoulder. She looks back to see Avad’s smiling and warm face. 

“Aloy, it delights me seeing you again. How are you?” He lets go of her shoulder as she looks at him, smiling as well. 

“I’m good now. Avad, this is my mother.” Aloy tells him, and he turns toward Elisabet as she is let go from Ersa. She blinks rapidly, but smiles easily, glancing between them and Aloy. 

“It is my honor to meet you. I am happy that you have found each other.” He nods toward her, smiling kindly. 

“Please, it’s my pleasure. I am Dr. Elisabet Sobeck, you may call me Elisabet, sir.” Elisabet tells them, nodding to each of them as Ersa returns to Avad’s side, softly nudging Aloy as she comes to stand next to them. 

“And these are?” Avad asks, turning to the Alphas and offering them a smile. 

“Friends of mine and Elisabet,” Aloy tells them and he nods. 

“Of course, anyone who is a friend of Aloy is a friend to me. Please, you can introduce yourselves once we have lunch, I imagine that some of you are hungry.” Avad says, taking Ersa’s hand and looking at each of them. Marad clears his throat loudly, before looking at Avad. 

“Your Radiance, if I may remind you, your meeting with the High Council will begin shortly.” Marad tells them, and Avad’s smile falters slightly, he sighs before nodding. Avad turns to Ersa, kissing her hand than her cheek. 

“My apologies, but duty calls. I will see you at dinner, then.” He lets go of Ersa’s hand and turns to them, nodding once more. He leaves with Marad and Ersa turns to them, grinning as she slings an arm around Aloy’s shoulders. 

“Come on, let’s get you guys some food and somewhere to rest.”

...

Aloy fills her mouth with bread as she listens to Ersa and the Alphas talk, she’s currently telling them the story of how she and Avad took back the city, liberating it from the terror of the Mad King. The way she recounted the story is filled with pride and a little of boasting as well as she tells the stories of how many Mad King’s soldiers she had slain that night, had protected the people of the Sundom, and had won the city back once the Mag King had fallen to Avad’s hand. She doesn’t continue with the details of that, saying that it is only Avad’s story to tell, but that he died by Avad’s hand. 

“So, you guys are heroes.” Captain Okilo says, raising a cup of wine to Ersa before drinking it. Aloy looks at Ersa as she had finished her late long ago, and now was instead leaning forward in her seat beside Aloy, she points at the captain and grins. 

“You, my friend, are right. We were hailed as heroes of the Sundom, we’ve celebrated for two weeks, continuously. After Avad had slain his father and we took care of any lingering headaches, Avad had asked me to marry him. We married privately.” Ersa smiles softly at that, and grabs at the ring around her fingers, twisting it around. 

“That’s so amazing, a classic tale of the heroes restoring peace to the kingdom, huh guys?” Margo grins at them, and Aloy nods. 

“Of course, there was an old tale that I remembered of when you told us your story, Your Majesty - ” Samina says, resting on her chair as she faces the Queen-consort from across the table, but Ersa raises a hand. 

“Please, we don’t use that title here, you are no citizens of the Sundom but are our friends. The Carja prefer ‘Your Radiance’ and things like that, you can call me Ersa.” Ersa tells them, nodding at Samina before motioning her to continue. 

“Absolutely, and the story that I had remembered was the tale of a king long before and a slave from another country, they had fallen in love. The slave then asks the king who is the most powerful man in the kingdom was, and the king replied that it was himself. The slave then corrected him, saying that the slave is more powerful than the king, because the king is his slave. It is because the slave had a hold of the king’s heart and love, he was indeed the most powerful man in the kingdom.” Samina tells them, smiling softly as she looks to Ersa. 

“Mahmud of Ghazni and Malik Ayaz, the slave to a slave story. They were both men and were deeply in love,” Elisabet comments, nodding as she smiles as she runs a finger over the rim of her cup. 

“Sorry, but I don’t know who you all speak of. Is this from another tribe? Aloy?” Ersa turns to Aloy and she quickly sits up from leaning back in her chair, swallowing the food down her throat. 

“Yeah, another tribe, from the east. A smaller one.” Aloy says, looking at the Alphas with a quick look of alarm and Elisabet nods, drinking once from her cup before speaking. 

“Yes, of course, sorry. Just a story is all that we’ve heard from other tribes.” Elisabet shrugs, and she pushes her empty plate away from her. 

“Right.” Ersa pauses, glancing at Aloy for a moment, and the girl gives her a wide grin, Ersa rolls her eyes at Aloy before smiling. “You and your adventures, Aloy, sometimes I wish I could come with you.” Ersa gently nudges Aloy’s shoulder. 

“You always can, what’s stopping you?” Aloy asks her, taking a sip from her water and Ersa points to the crown sitting up top her head, smiling. 

“This.” Ersa sighs before looking at the Alphas. “The noble households aren’t too happy that Avad had married an Oseram woman, much less was his former slave, they wanted him to marry a Carja woman of course.” Ersa rolls her eyes, making Aloy chuckle. “I knew that the day I would marry Avad would be my happiest, but also my last day of freedom, unfortunately.”

“I imagine marrying into the royal family would put you on a leash,” Charles says, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks at her. “And by how much you have told us, it seems that this society is majorly run by men, and such, women have fewer powers.”

“You are correct,” Ersa says, a hint of bitterness in her voice as she speaks. “Women do not have a voice in this Sundom, Avad and I are trying to give back as many voices as we can.”

“You are doing the right thing, Ersa, I hope you know that,” Samina says, a soft smile on her face as she looks at them. 

“I know, I know,” A silence overcomes them as Aloy finishes up eating, and the Captain Okilo interrupts the silence by clearing her throat, nodding to Ersa. 

“Could you show us to our rooms? We have been traveling and some of us could use the rest.” Captain Okilo asks, and Ersa curses before nodding, laughing as she stands. 

“Right, of course, I forgot. Please, follow me,” They stand and follow Ersa out of the dining room, and servants accompany them as they walk. Aloy walks with Ersa, quietly looking at all the decorations that the palace has as Ersa leads them to the guest corridors. 

“This is where you all will be staying, you can pick your rooms. A servant will show you the restrooms.” As the Alphas choose their own rooms, Elisabet walks to the door of one and opens it before walking inside. Aloy follows her, looking at the room with a raised eyebrow. The bed could fit an entire family, pushed up against the far left wall, and across the wall was a balcony, with curtains hanging and flowing in the light breeze. A low table and pillows are at the center of the room, then on the wall behind it, a long table with fruits and other types of food. 

Aloy walks toward the bed as Ersa and Elisabet are speaking, their conversation falling to death ears as Aloy wasn’t paying any mind as she jumps on top of the bed, sinking into the bed with a content sigh as she buries her head in the many pillows. All-Mother, she hasn’t slept in a bed this soft and comfortable in months. 

“Aloy?” Ersa calls out, amused, and Aloy lifts her head, looking over at Elisabet and Ersa. Elisabet smiles at Aloy, a raised eyebrow in her direction. “Come on, I need to speak to you privately for a few moments, it’s about a personal matter that could use your insight.”

Right, Aloy remembers the letters that they had written to her, before nodding as she pushes herself off the bed, sighing as she walks back toward them. She looks at Elisabet, nodding at her. 

“I’ll come back later,” she tells her and the older woman nods, smiling. 

“Course, take your time kid, I’ll be here.” Elisabet presses a hand against Aloy’s shoulder, squeezing a bit, and Aloy follows Ersa out the room. She continues to walk with Ersa to a room across the palace, then somewhere beneath the palace as Ersa asks her a few questions about her travels and the company that Aloy now keeps. She’s lead past jail cells, most of them are empty, and other rooms that are filled with armor and weapons, before they have finally reached a door with a torchlight next to the wooden door. 

“I’ve been needing to speak to you about the raping and killing of the women in our city, it’s concerning,” Ersa tells her, face now pinched together with concern, her laughing and happy manners are now gone to the wind. Aloy nods, frowning at the thought of what’s happening as Ersa pushes open the door and lets Aloy walk in first, she does. 

In the room, it’s damp and cold, the stone walls are covered in dirt or scratches of weapons. At the center of the room is a table, with three chairs around the table, and a mountain of scrolls sitting on the top of the table. But that isn’t what catches Aloy’s attention first, no, it is the woman sitting on the table, a knife dancing around her fingers as she holds up a scroll to read. 

The woman looks at her, and her smile is wide but predatory. 

“Vanasha.” Aloy breathes. 

“My, my, isn’t it the most dangerous woman in the known world?” Vanasha grins at Aloy, holding up a scroll for Aloy and Ersa to see, and Aloy can find a rough drawing of herself on the scroll, the words _WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE_ and then a prize of a number of shards. 

Aloy grins back. 


	11. Chapter 11

“You’ve got a target on your back, girl.” Ersa says, nudging an elbow into Aloy’s ribs as they walk into the room, the door closing behind them as Vanasha hops off the table, putting the wanted paper down in favor in giving Aloy a hug. 

“I’ve always had a target on my back,” Aloy tells her, and Aloy wraps her arms around Vanasha’s waist, overwhelmed with the smell of her perfume. Aloy smiles as Vanasha squeezes her a little tight, before pulling away and holding Aloy by the shoulders. 

“You have been gone for too long, Freckles. Where have you been?” Vanasha asks, looking at Aloy up and down, smiling while Ersa takes a seat at the table. 

Aloy shrugs her shoulders, but her smile widens. “I found my mother, Vanasha.” Vanasha’s eyes widen with surprise, and her smile becomes warm. 

“That’s wonderful, Freckles! I wish to meet her if you will.” Vanasha says, and Aloy nods, she lets go of Aloy before motioning for her to join them at the table. Aloy does, taking the seat between both Ersa and Vanasha. Aloy picks up the wanted paper of herself, smirking a little as she looks at it. She wonders who else wants to end her life, but as she comes to know, there are many people in this world that wants her dead, simply for looking like Elisabet. Now, as Elisabet is back, Aloy much rather have a target on herself than Elisabet. Sliding the scroll back, Aloy looks at her friends. 

“So, what can I do for you?” Aloy leans back in her chair, and Vanasha slides over the table another scroll, this time it was a sketch of a man. The man’s features consisted of an angry scowl, dark eyes, thick bushy eyebrows, and no hair. He’s muscular, seems like he could be in the military, but there are metal plates on each side of his head and seem to disappear behind him. Aloy cocks her head to the side, furrowing her eyebrows. Only the Banuk would put technology in their skin, for reasons either religious or otherwise. But he doesn’t look Banuk, maybe from another tribe in which Aloy hasn’t encountered yet.

Aloy knows that Slyens has technology embedded into his skin, and frowns at the reminder of him. He hasn’t contacted her since the Battle of the Spire, and she’s glad too, ever since that she and GAIA had decided to permanently block him after his manipulative ploys always had put Aloy risking her ass for his plans. 

The girl hopes she’ll never see him again. 

“Have you seen this man before, Aloy?” Ersa says, leaning forward and resting her arms up top the table, looking at Aloy with an eyebrow raised.

“Never.” Aloy shakes her head, and she looks at her friends. “Is this him?”

“The man who rapes our women and kills them? Yes, a general drawing of him. He also has kidnapped multiple children and people as well, but we could never track him. It is as if he disappears into the night.” Vanasha tells her, taking the scroll away from Aloy and setting it aside. 

“We have reason to believe that he’s in the city, Aloy.” Ersa tells her and Aloy tenses up, she leans forward in her seat. “There aren’t many who bears these markings, but he stands out. From what our witnesses says, he has metal in his skin, his entire body, but it’s not like the Banuk. It’s different. We’re not sure why he has these markings. But, unfortunately, we don’t know where he is hiding, or whether he is here alone or not, but there has been another rape and kidnapping just a week ago. We don’t know where the body lies, it disappeared along with him. He comes and goes.”

“And you want me to stop him?” Aloy looks at Vanasha and there is an emotionless expression on her face, that cold upfront that Aloy has come to recognize on the spy’s face.

“Absolutely. You’ll be rewarded, of course. But we wish to end this senseless killing and raping now, Aloy. Not another woman.” Vanasha tells her and Aloy nods, looking back to Ersa. 

“Since you’re here, we thought that with your status as the Savior, maybe he could come out of his hiding. You’ll never be alone, you will be watched until he comes after you. Once he has been captured alive, Avad and I will discuss on what sentence to give him. I personally wish that he will hang for this, but my husband has abolished the death penalty after his coronation, so most likely he will rot in a cell in Sunstone Rock.” Ersa tells her and Aloy grits her teeth, her jaw clenches as she looks at Ersa. 

“I will do this in exchange for the guarantee safety and protection of my mother _and_ her companions. I want them to be safe here, Ersa, no one will lay a finger on them.” She points at the scroll of the drawing of the killer, and Ersa nods. 

“You have mine and Avad’s word, Aloy. I will personally assign them our soldiers, and Erend will accompany them outside of the palace grounds. They’ll be under the guard of the crown.” Ersa tells her, and Aloy nods, she could always trust them for helping her.

“Captured alive is preferable, Aloy, but if you knock him about a bit, we’ll turn a blind eye if your hand slips.” Vanasha’s voice drops, a slight smirk curling at the edges of her lips, and Aloy shakes her head. She wants this man to be able to face what he has done and carry out a sentence, whether it will be in prison or a death sentence. 

“And if he does turn up dead, we like to see the body. Either way, we want him. We’ll show him no mercy.” Ersa says and Aloy nods, she stands up from her chair. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll catch him.” She nods at them both and they come to stand as well, Vanasha glances at her then at Ersa. 

“This is a secret mission Aloy, what we discussed here doesn’t reach your mother’s ears or anyone else. No one shall hear of it.” Vanasha tells her, grabbing all the scrolls on the table and rolling them up, before holding them under her arm. 

“I won’t say a word.” She tells them, and Ersa joins her at the door. 

“Good, now, girls, as much as I love to stay and talk, I have to go see about a meeting with the High Council, as much as I don’t want to see those fools,” Ersa says, smirking and causing Aloy to huff out a small laugh, and she watches Ersa leave the room. Turning back to looking at Vanasha, she sees the woman walk up to the torchlight in the room and blows it out, causing the room to fall into darkness. 

With her Focus, Aloy could see Vanasha walk up to her, and lay a gentle hand on her arm. “It’s good to have you back, Freckles.”

“It’s good to be back.” Aloy smiles despite the darkness, and there is a moment where they don’t say anything, before Vanasha breaks it with opening the door, letting the torchlight from the halls come into view. Aloy blinks rapidly, letting her eyes focus on the light change, before following Vanasha out the room and through the hallways. It’s not until that they reach the exit to the outside that Vanasha stops, and turns around to look at Aloy, blocking her from leaving. 

“Aloy?” The spy calls her attention, an almost gentle look in her eyes, and a soft smile on her face.

Aloy stops before her. “Yeah?”

“I’m glad you’re here, Freckles.”

Aloy smiles. “I am too.”

... 

Aloy returns to Elisabet, finding that the woman in their room, finishing up a holo-recording. Elisabet has told her that she and the other Alphas are recording their new life in the new world, saying that it is good to keep a journal for future history and evidence of the times. Aloy walks in the room, smiling as Elisabet looks over at her, and she makes a swiping motion in the air as her Focus dulls down to a light green. 

“Hey kid, the others went to the bath. Wanna join them before our dinner with king?” Elisabet asks as Aloy takes off her bow, letting it lean against the wall beside the bed, along with her quiver of arrows and her spear. She removes all of her armor before joining Elisabet on the bed, collapsing beside her and curling up into a ball. 

“No, maybe another time.” Aloy shakes her head and Elisabet smiles down at her, leaning back against one hand. 

“Are you tired? Do you wanna take a nap?” Elisabet asks her and Aloy smiles lightly, she hasn’t realized how exhausted she is once she has finally taken a chance to lie down. But she can’t rest, not with how many thoughts are going through her head, most of them concerning the man who is killing innocent women. She’s concerned with everything that’s been happening, she wonders now that she’s in the city if he’ll come after her. Aloy is sure of it. 

It seems as if Aloy takes too long to answer, as Elisabet gently nudges her shoulder, the smile on her face is gone now replaced with soft concern. “I could practically hear you thinking, Aloy, what’s going on?” Elisabet asks gently, and Aloy focuses back on Elisabet. 

“Oh, just a lot of things. I have a mission soon, need to capture someone. Won’t be too hard.” Aloy tells her and Elisabet nods, the concern growing as Elisabet looks down at her. She can’t say any more than that. She wants to, she really does, but she has given her word to Vanasha. Besides, she doesn’t want the older woman to worry. 

“Oh, yes. Would you be alright?” Elisabet asks and Aloy nods, a smile creeping up on her face. 

“I can handle myself.” She tells her and Elisabet smiles, but the concern ever stays. She knows by the look in Elisabet’s eyes that the woman wants to ask more questions, and she quickly changes the topic. “What do you think of Avad and Ersa?”

Elisabet grins widely. “I like them so far, I see that they’ve put a lot of trust on you.” Aloy smiles and nods, but goes quiet again. She can’t help but focus on Elisabet’s hands, they’re a little wrinkled and her nails are short. Closing her eyes, she breathes in deeply. A nap wouldn’t hurt, considering all the travel that they did to get here. It’s quiet for a few moments, and Aloy can feel her body begin to relax when she feels Elisabet tuck a stray hair behind her ear, it causes her to open her eyes. 

A soft smile is on Elisabet’s face, and her eyebrows raise slightly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.” Aloy shrugs one shoulder, and she takes Elisabet’s hand before directing it toward her hair. 

“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind.” She truly doesn’t, she likes feeling the touch of Elisabet’s hands. It’s always gentle. Like a mother’s touch, but Aloy has only ever imaged what it would feel. After closing her eyes once more, Elisabet gently runs her fingers through Aloy’s hair, Elisabet hums a small tune that Aloy doesn’t recognize, but it’s enough to put her to sleep. 

She wakes later, and with the sun setting and the shadows are longer, Aloy guesses that it must be close to evening. She realizes that Elisabet isn’t in the room, but a message on her Focus notifies her that Elisabet has gone to join dinner with Avad and Ersa, saying that she didn’t want to wake Aloy up because she seemed so peaceful. Aloy looks at the time that the message was sent, and it wasn’t too long ago, only twenty minutes ago. Dinner must’ve have started. Quickly, Aloy grabs her weapons and armor, she would normally not take her armor and weapons to have dinner with her friends, but ever since Ersa has told her that there is a killer lurking around, Aloy won’t leave it to chance. 

Her Focus comes to life as Aloy walks through the halls, toward the dining room. “Aloy, did you rest well?” GAIA asks her and Aloy nods, smiling a little. 

“I did, if only for a moment.” She nods at the guards positioned along the walls to the dining room, and each of them salutes her as she passes them. She pays them no mind, only heading for the room. 

“Good. If I may, Aloy, are you not going to tell the Alphas about the killer?” Her question make Aloy slow in her steps, and she realizes that GAIA must’ve have been listening in on her conversation with Ersa and Vanasha. 

“No, no, not yet. I don’t want them to worry. I have it under control. This stays between you and me, whatever else that you heard in that room.” Aloy tells her, she doesn’t want GAIA to tell the Alphas that there is a man out there who may have been using the Old Ones technology for the wrong reasons, to no good, and put innocent lives on the line. The Alphas has just gotten here, she doesn’t want them to see how many problems there are in the world, at least not yet. She wants to give them their peace, they deserved it. 

“If you wish, Aloy. I can provide my services when your mission begins.” GAIA tells her and Aloy nods as she walks up to the dining room’s doors, the guards that stand beside the doors salute Aloy, before reaching over and grabbing the door handles, they open the doors for her. “Have a pleasant meal, Aloy.”

“Thank you,” She gives the guard a slight nod in acknowledgment as the doors open, and she’s immediately greeted by laughter and conversation from the room. A quick scout of the room confirms that all the Alphas are here, seating on the right side of the table while Erend, Nasadi, Itamen sit on the left side, Avad sits at the head of the table with Ersa at his side, and Elisabet sits on the other head of the table, a seat is empty beside her. The conversation seems to slow once they see Aloy, and she can’t help but to smile at them. 

“Aloy!” Erend shouts joyfully, his mug of ale already in hand before he slams it down once he sees her, the ale splilling a litte on the table. The Captain of the Vanguard stands from the table before going toward Aloy, his arms outstretched. “You’re back in Meridian!” She lets him take her into a giant hug, lifting her off the ground and she laughs, punching his shoulder lightly. 

Erend sets her back down, grinning widely at her. “Did you come back for me?” He asks and she laughs again. 

“You wish, Erend.” She taps him on the shoulder again and he rolls his eyes, gently pushing her into the direction of the table. She walks to the empty seat besides Elisabet, and nods to Avad, who returns her nod with a smile. 

“Aloy, join us, please. Help yourself to anything you like.” Sitting down beside Elisabet, there’s an empty plate on the table waiting for her, and she doesn’t hesitate to fill her plate with various foods. The conversation seems to pick up once again, and as Aloy fills her cup with water, Elisabet leans over to whisper in her ear. 

“Sleep well?” She asks her, and Aloy nods. 

“How long was I out?” She asks and Elisabet smiles at her. 

“Almost three hours, seems like you needed it,” Elisabet tells her and Aloy nods, smiling before she stuffs her mouth with bread. She looks at all the people around the table, finding Samina and Nasadi in deep conversation, Captain Ayomide listening intently to Prince Itamen’s stories as he gestures around with his hands, a fond smile on her face as she listens to the young boy. Margo and Travis are talking to Erend, asking about his position in the Vanguard and his stories of battles long past, while Charles talks with Ersa about the Oseram. Aloy joins in the conversation from time to time, Erend quickly talking about the battles they had both fought, and then retelling the tale of finding Ersa after her kidnapping. 

She smiles throughout the story, and her plate is empty and long forgotten by the time Erend tells that they had found Ersa, beaten and bruised, but nonetheless alive. His voice goes softer, and Aloy swears she could see his eyes redden and tears well up in his eyes as he turns to Aloy. “By the forge, if it wasn’t for her, I would have never gotten my sister back.” 

Aloy grins, leaning forward in her seat. “You’re lucky I gave you a minute of my time,” She raises her eyebrows and looks over at Avad and Ersa. Avad takes Ersa’s hand and presses a gentle kiss to the back of her hand. 

“And for that, we are ever grateful.” Avad smiles at them and she nods, and looks over to see Prince Itamen tug at his mother’s sleeve, and whispers something in her ear. She nods, before taking the child’s hand and looks to Avad. 

“My dear, Itamen is falling asleep. I will take him to bed, if we may be excused?” Nasadi asks Avad and he nods, the two get up from their seats and Nasadi leans down to press a kiss to Avad’s forehead, before Itamen goes up to Avad and hugs him briefly before Nasadi and Itamen wave goodbye at Ersa, and the guests. Aloy watches them leave the room, and servants come in after them, each of them grabbing the empty plates from the table and refilling their cups with wine or water. Erend takes this moment to leave as well, leaning over to tell Aloy to meet him tomorrow at the Hunter’s Lodge, before leaving after giving Ersa a hug, and a handshake to Avad before leaving. After a moment, Marad walks into the room, bowing to the waist to Avad and Ersa before taking a seat at Avad’s side. 

Elisabet waits until Marad has taken a seat before speaking, her cup filled with wine as she twirls the wine around. “I heard rumors that you’re called the Outlander King, is it true?”

Avad looks at Elisabet, before glancing at Ersa who shrugs, and smiles at Elisabet. “They are true, and I heard rumors that you’re the mother of our Savior, but Aloy had previously told me that she is motherless. Would you like to explain that?” Avad says, and Aloy looks between Elisabet and Avad, before taking a giant sip of her cup as Elisabet smirks. 

“I would, but frankly, sir, I do not know you. I know that you’re a king, and what Aloy tells me, a reasonable and just man. All you need to know is that I am here now, I wish to negotiate.” Elisabet says, and Avad nods, urging her to go on. 

“Of course, what is it that you wish to negotiate?”

“My colleagues and I are not citizens of Meridian, therefore, we are not your subjects. We have the right to refuse any command you give us. We are our own people and answer to no one but ourselves. I would, and I say my companions can agree, we would love to help you in your problems dealing with the machines surrounding your kingdom – ” Elisabet is interrupted by Marad, who clears his throat before looking toward Elisabet. 

“The Sundom, and if you wish to address the Sun-King, you will address him as Your Radiance.” Marad tells her, and Aloy finds that there is a tense smile on Elisabet’s face, her features emotionless as she looks at Marad. 

“Of course, my apologies.” She turns back to Avad. “ – Your Sundom, we have at our possession abilities that can, hopefully, return the machines back to how they were before the – ” Elisabet snaps her fingers, turning to look at Aloy for help.

She nods. “The Derangement.”

“Yes, right, before the Derangement. The machines were peaceful and not hostile, unlike how they are now, but we will also like access to the Spire.” Elisabet says, and then Captain Ayomide speaks up, leaning forward in her seat as she looks at the king and queen. 

“The Spire is essential to our efforts in restoring the machines back to how they were previously before the Derangement. We realize that the Spire is a monument for you, but I cannot provide more information on the Spire other than to reassure you, Your Radiance, that our causes are aligned, and we wish to help. I like to also ask to see in person, how you train your soldiers and see for myself the weapons that you carry.” Ayomide says, a pleasant smile on her face as she looks at them both. 

“For what reason? You have come to our city and demand to have access to our possessions but without giving us any answers. What is your name, again?” Marad turns to Captain Ayomide, a hard cold steel gaze in his eyes as he looks at her. 

“My name is Captain Ayomide Okilo, but you may address me as Captain Okilo. I am a retired soldier, I just simply want to take stock, and see the defenses that you have put in place to defend your city.” She tells him, before grabbing the metal necklace around her neck and show them the necklace. Marad shows no emotion to it, but Avad leans forward to look at the necklace, curiosity evident in his eyes. 

“Oh, uh,” Margo clears her throat, smiling sheepishly as she looks at Avad and Ersa. “If I could also request, I’m a tinkerer, and I’m very curious in the behaviors of the machines. I liked to ask if it’s not too much trouble if someone could capture a corrupted machine and a non-corrupted machine for me to inspect? Alive, please, and try not to harm them too much. It is for science. I want to see what makes them corrupted.” She says, smiling but there’s a hint of nervousness in her voice as she looks at them. 

Ersa nods to Aloy, taking a sip of her cup. “I’m sure Aloy could do that for you, she has more knowledge on these new machines than we do. If you want any help, I can send Erend your way, Aloy.” Ersa tells them and she nods, it wouldn’t be too hard capturing these machines. She’s more concerned about a corrupted machine. 

“No, that’s fine. I like Erend to stay with my mother and her companions if they choose to leave the palace. I’ll ask Talanah instead.” Aloy answers, looking to Margo and the woman grins brightly, before leaning back in her seat. 

“If that settles it, if it’s no problem, then I also wish to gain access to your library, Your Radiance. Your temple of knowledge, if you will, I like to read any books or scrolls on your history. Maybe, perhaps, I would like to meet a historian? I am a historian myself. I am Doctor Samina Ebadji, you can call me Doctor Ebadji,” Samina tells Avad, a warm smile on her lips as she gestures to herself. 

“The library is open to the public and the people, if you want to speak with a historian, then I can direct you to Professor Akem, he was my teacher and is now, Prince Itamen's teacher. I can arrange for the two of you to meet after my brother’s studies if that is what you wished.” Avad tells them, returning the warm smile to Samina and she bows her head in thanks. Avad turns his attention to Travis, he nods at the man who's unusually quiet. “Is there anything you would like to ask?”

“Um,” Travis crosses his arms over his chest, before slowly shaking his head. “If you could point me in the right direction of where I can get some proper ale and companions for the night, I’d gladly appreciate it.” He salutes him, grinning, and Avad pauses for a moment, seeming to consider before Ersa speaks up, a grin on her face. 

“Mother’s Court is where you want to be, it’s an underground pub. Everyone there is very talented, and if you harass any of the girls, Mother Naima will eat you alive if you touch any of her kids the wrong way. So will I, but just tell them that I sent you, and they will let you in for free. Also, try the drink the Sun’s Sin, it’s one of the best drinks there.” Ersa tells them, grinning as she nudges an elbow into Avad’s side, who almost seems embarrassed as she speaks. “Avad and I used to go, they know Erend too. You’ll get in, I’m sure.”

“Sun-Queen Ersa, if I may, they do not need to kno  – ”  Marad begins to explain and Avad shakes his head. 

“It’s quite alright, Marad. Do not worry.” Avad tells him, smiling. 

“Why, thank you, ma’am. I’ll go as soon as I can. The name is Travis Tate.” Travis nods, grinning widely as he looks at the Alphas, Charles rolls his eyes and Elisabet sighs beside Aloy. 

Ersa looks at Aloy, grinning. “Have you been to Mother’s Court, Aloy?”

“Uh.” Aloy could physically feel her face begin to blush, and Elisabet turns to look at her, and seeing her expression, raises her eyebrows but a smirk spreads on her face. “Only once, it was for a mission, that’s it.” She quickly takes her cup and downs all the water inside, refusing to look at Elisabet anymore. 

Ersa laughs loudly, slapping the table as she looks at Avad, amusement palpable in her eyes. “That’s what they always say! I see you, Aloy. I see what you’re up to.” She teases, and Aloy shakes her head, covering her face with her hands. It’s true what she meant, she only went to the nightclub for a mission, rescuing three girls from a very possessive client, and after settling the conflict, (Aloy had threatened the man if he ever came near the girls again that she wouldn’t be so merciful the next time if she catches him being violent with the girls then had sent him on his way to Vanasha) she had returned the girls to Mother Naima who was more than kind enough to bring Aloy under her wing, offering Aloy a place to stay and a bed to sleep in, also had offered the services of the men and women in there, which Aloy declined immediately, and had been offered to always come to the club if Aloy had ever needed anything. 

“Well,” Elisabet clears her throat, chuckling a little. “You learn something new every day.” She gently nudges Aloy but Aloy doesn’t look at her, instead, focusing on the fidgeting with the cup in her hands, spinning it around. 

“Do you have anything to ask for, as well?” Avad asks Charles, who then Aloy also looks up, and Charles shakes his head.

“No, sir, thank you. The room that you have provided me is enough, and I’m sure if there is anything, I won’t hesitate to ask.” Charles dips his head, and Avad nods before turning to Ersa. He seems to be considering everything said, and Ersa nods her approval, he then turns to Elisabet and Aloy. 

He covers his mouth, scratching his beard before looking at Aloy. “Aloy, what do you think of this?”

She clears her throat. “They mean well, Avad. They want to stop this war and violence as much as we do. Give them a chance. You won’t regret it.”

“Do you trust them?”

“With my life. I would die for them if need be.”

“Ersa?”

“Anyone who is a friend to Aloy is my friend, and if what they say is true, that they want to stop this violence and suffering, then I’m with you. Our people come first, Avad, always. Let’s end this pain.”

Avad goes quiet, and he shifts his sight to Marad. The advisor clears his throat before speaking, “Your Radiance, they come before us as allies, but we have seen this before. A stranger who comes from a land or a tribe we do not recognize. I advise you to not adhere to their requests, and instead, focus on their actions instead of words. I urge you to think of our history and the betrayal that has come when we have welcomed outlanders into our city. As Sun-Queen Ersa has said, the people come first.”

Avad nods, as if to let Marad know that he had listened to his advise before going quiet. He instead focuses on the ring on his finger, twirling it around as he decides. They wait in silence, and it seems by how hard Marad is clenching his jaw, he wishes to debate more. But he stays silent, as the king thinks.

Finally, after what seems for a few moments, Avad looks up at them. “I swore an oath to protect the people of Meridian when I became Sun-King, I had killed my own father to end the Red Raids and put an end to the terror and bloodshed that had gone through these streets. The people shall always come first, to protect them. And if it means to allow outlanders to help our cause, then so be it. No more blood.” He straightens up in his seat, nodding at all of them, and Marad takes in a deep breath while Ersa smiles widely.

“You are allowed to do as you each requested. I will arrange for it to happen. Your access to the Spire will be allowed, but you will go with soldiers, for it is not safe. As for your concern of being subjects to the crown, you are right. You are not citizens of the Sundom and do not follow the laws of this land. This is my will, and therefore; the will of the Sun.” Avad says, ushering in a young woman who writes down his law, and in the meantime, Elisabet smiles while Marad gets up from his seat. 

“Your Radiance, if I may be excused?” He asks and Avad nods. “I wish to speak more on this when you have the time.” Aloy watches as Marad leaves the room, along with the young woman, and as the doors closed behind them, Avad looks at them. 

“You’re all dismissed. I wish you a pleasant sleep.” Avad stands from his seat and waits until Ersa has stand to leave with her. 

“Goodnight, everyone. Aloy, I wish to speak to you in the morning.” Ersa tells her, taking Avad’s hand and they leave the room together, through another set of doors. Once they have left, Elisabet lets out a breath, grinning. 

“That went well, huh guys?” She says, and they all muttered their agreements, standing from their seats and walking over. 

“It went well, I think. I’m more concerned about that stranger that they had, who betrayed them.” Samina says, walking over to them with a concern expression. 

“Same here, I like to know who that fucker is.” Captain Ayomide says, putting her necklace under her shirt, hidden away from sight. 

“Aloy, is it true that he killed his own father?” Margo asks, walking over and Aloy nods. 

“He did. He also liberated the city from the reign of terror, with Ersa at his side.” She tells them and Margo looks back at the doors that her friends had left in, before turning back to them.

“Damn. I’ve got so many questions now.” Margo mutters, frowning. 

“Well,” Travis yawns, stretching his arms over his head. “I’m gonna hit the sack, I’ll see you assholes tomorrow.” He waves lazily over his shoulder, walking to the entrance of the room, and Charles follows after him. 

“Goodnight, everyone.” Charles nods to them, and Margo quickly joins them both, as everyone bids them goodnight as well. 

“We need to see that Spire, Sobeck, tomorrow.” Captain Ayomide says, pointing to Elisabet with a raised eyebrow, Elisabet nods. 

“We will, Cap, don’t worry.” She tells them, and Samina lays a hand on Elisabet’s shoulder. 

“I’ll find out whatever I know from the library, look for that traitor that they mentioned. I’ll come to you if I find anything,” Samina tells them and she nods, motioning to the door. 

“Keep me informed. Night, Sam.” Elisabet says, and then the historian leaves promptly, followed by Ayomide. Once it was the two of them, Elisabet sighs deeply, and she turns her eyes to Aloy. 

There’s a mischievous and teasing glint in her eyes. “You’ve been to a stripper’s club, Aloy?”

“I’m not saying anything else,” Aloy says through gritted teeth, and Elisabet throws her head back in laughter, and she throws an arm around Aloy’s shoulders. Aloy rolls her eyes at her laughter as they walk to the doors, Elisabet chuckling while Aloy pouts. 

She never even had a companion before. What’s making her want one now? Aloy is too busy for that. There’s a world that needs to be saving, sub-functions to find, and restoring GAIA back to her full potential. Too many things to do in so little time. 

“Oh god, I remember being your age. You need to tell me more about this place, Aloy.”

“Not going to happen.”

“Fine, someday, I will learn more.”

“In your dreams, Elisabet.”

...

Aloy wakes up early in the morning, and she sighs as she opens her eyes. She needs to go to the bathhouse. Aloy looks over her shoulder at Elisabet, who is asleep, her arm over her waist, and she gently lifts her arm before sliding out under her arms. Quietly, she takes one of their quilts before wrapping it around herself, walking out of the room. 

She heads to the bathhouse, her bare feet padding across the cold floor as she goes. Servants come and go, each of whom bows their head to Aloy, but she pays them no mind. It’s early morning, the sun barely peeking over the horizon. Opening the door quietly to the bathhouse, she expects no one to be here but is surprised nonetheless when she hears someone vomiting. 

Aloy pauses at the door, before reaching up to tap her Focus, scanning the room. There’s only one person in the room, bent over. Aloy goes to close the door behind her, but the door stops before it could fully shut. Looking behind her, she finds Vanasha holding a cup in her hand, and the woman nods at her. Stepping inside the room, Vanasha comes in after her and the door shuts. Vanasha walks to the person, Aloy behind her, and they both stop as they find Ersa. 

Ersa hurls into a bucket. 

Aloy’s confused, but before she could ask anything, Vanasha walks forward quickly, going to Ersa’s side. “Ersa, here.” She offers the mug to Ersa after she sits up, Ersa groans and coughs before taking the mug and drinking it all down. Aloy takes a step forward, not sure whether she should leave or not. 

“Damn,” Ersa swears, giving back the mug to Vanasha as Vanasha puts a hand on her shoulder. Leaning her head against the bucket, she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and seems to notice Aloy's presence. “Oh, hey, Aloy.” Ersa waves with a lazy hand, before closing her eyes again. 

Aloy looks between the both of them, Vanasha looking at Aloy with pursed lips. “What’s going on?” She takes a few steps closer to them.

Vanasha looks at Ersa, and with a nod from Ersa who opens her eyes, Ersa smiles gently. “I’m pregnant, Aloy.”

Aloy’s eyes widen, she looks at Ersa before grinning. “Really? That’s great news. Congrats.” She smiles at her and Ersa smiles back. The girl is happy for her friend, but she swallows back a lump in her throat, she is reminded of her own birth. Born through death and destruction, of fire and bloodshed. Not from a woman, but a machine. She was manufactured, and for this, doesn’t have anyone she could claim as family. The girl wishes to call Elisabet her mother, wants it so badly, but to impose that on Elisabet is rude. No, the woman may not even want to be her mother. Elisabet was against the Lightkeeper Protocol. 

But she looks at her friend now, as Ersa places both of her hands on her stomach, and beams brightly at Aloy. Her joy at being a mother, at having a child together with Avad, a man who she loves dearly. The babe wouldn’t come from a machine, the babe will have a family, a mother, and father. Something that Aloy could never claim, but the babe will, it will be surrounded by their own family. And for that, Aloy is happy and grateful that the babe wouldn’t go through all the trials and tribulations that Aloy herself went through.

“Thank you, I’m happy too.” Ersa pushes the bucket away from her, instead choosing to lean against the wall for a moment. 

“She’s only three weeks in the pregnancy, Aloy.” Vanasha says, staying at her side. “No one else but us know of this pregnancy. We wish to keep this a secret until she is showing, Avad does not know. Ersa bears the heir to the throne. It’s to keep the queen and the unborn babe safe. When the times come, and if the Sun wills it, you may be the protector of that child if dark times do come.” Vanasha informs her and Aloy looks at Ersa for confirmation, the queen nods, and smiles. 

“We thought about this, and if it comes to it, then we decided that you would take the babe to safety if dark times come upon us,” Ersa tells her, and with the help of Vanasha, she stands from the floor. “We live in uncertain times, Aloy, and I trust you with the babe’s safety than anyone else.”

“Do you want me to care for them? Because I have no idea how to raise a child.” Aloy says, smiling as Ersa laughs and Vanasha chuckles, she walks to them. 

“No, no, simply escort to safety. We have it planned out.” Ersa says, walking toward Aloy and grabbing her by the shoulders before pulling her into a hug. Ersa laughs once more, her joy contagious as Aloy smiles and returns the hug. Departing from the hug, Aloy looks at Ersa. 

“As long as I’m here, the babe won’t be harmed. Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Aloy doesn’t really know much about pregnancy, all the experience she had was being born from a machine. She doesn’t know what happens to a woman’s body during pregnancy. Rost had told her that a babe was born when a man and a woman mated, but Aloy didn’t want to hear anything beyond that, too embarrassed to speak of it. She knew, of course, how it happened, but the conversation itself was awkward. The girl knows that the woman carries the child for nine months and then the baby is born. 

“I hope it’s a girl.” Ersa winks at her and Aloy chuckles. 

“A Sun-Queen huh?”

“Yeah! Do you think it’s about time? But I don’t care about the gender, all I want is for the babe to be safe and healthy when it decides to get here.” Ersa tells her, smiling widely at her and Aloy grins at her. 

“I’m sure you'll be a great mother.”

“You think? I hope so.” Ersa says, nodding to herself before looking over at Vanasha. “We should get going, I have to meet Avad for breakfast.” Aloy waves them away, before returning to the bathhouse. She was here for a reason. After finishing up her business, Aloy quietly goes back to her and Elisabet’s room. Tugging the quilt around her shoulders, she softly closes the door behind her. 

Elisabet is still asleep, by the looks of it. Aloy slips in next to her, burrowing under the covers, and closing her eyes. They still have a few hours until they have to get up and see the Spire. Aloy’s thinking about escorting the Alphas to the Spire first, and after they do whatever they need to do, they'll go to the Hunter’s Lodge. But for now, more sleep. 

Aloy closes her eyes, and then she feels two arms wrap around her and tugs her closer. Opening her eyes, she looks up at Elisabet, who has her eyes still closed but she mumbles quietly. “Where you’d go?” Elisabet rests her chin atop Aloy’s head and Aloy closes her eyes, nuzzling her face against Elisabet’s neck. 

“Had to pee.” She whispers, and Elisabet chuckles before going quiet. Aloy breathes in deeply, waiting to fall asleep. Elisabet strokes Aloy’s back gently, and she hums quietly. She much rather stay in bed with Elisabet than go out.

The girl is almost half-asleep when Elisabet speaks up again, “Do you mean it? That you would die for us?” It takes a moment to figure out what Elisabet asks, Aloy pulling herself out of her half-asleep daze, and she mumbles quietly. “Yes. You’re too important.” Elisabet squeezes her tighter, pulling her even closer. 

“No, don’t risk your life for us. I rather _you_ live than us. We’re old, and we have lived our lives. You’re young, you just started to live." Elisabet tells her quietly, and Aloy opens her eyes to look at Elisabet, but the older woman never opens her eyes, seeming content to hold the huntress instead. “Promise me? If it came to be that, us or you, choose yourself. I want you to _live_ , kid.” Elisabet takes in a deep breath before pressing a tender kiss to Aloy’s forehead. “Grab life by the balls, kid, and live it as loud and as fast as you can.”

She’s quiet for a moment, running her thoughts over what Elisabet said. The world doesn’t need her anymore, she has filled GAIA’s purpose in saving the world from destruction and extinction. She is, of course, merely the clone of Elisabet. A copy. She wasn’t even born from the woman. If anything, the world desperately needs the Alphas’s work, they need them to fix the terraforming system and restore GAIA. Each of these things that Aloy doesn’t need to be here. But nonetheless, Aloy responds quietly. “I promise.” Even if it was a promise she knew she wouldn’t keep, because the Alphas have too much significance, it was only to reassure the older woman. 

Aloy would die for them. For Elisabet. For GAIA. 

She won’t hesitate. 

She served her purpose. 

The girl’s just wondering how in the All-Mother’s world is she still doing alive? From luck? Maybe. Destiny, most likely. The world won’t stop for her, and she won’t stop for it. Until she could do everything that she can possibly do to make everything right, she will. Perhaps once she’s dead, she could finally rest. Aloy knows that she probably won’t see old age, and so she must live now. 

If not for herself, then for Elisabet and GAIA.


End file.
